What Was Mars Like in the Past? Scientists Say Red Planet Was More Beautiful Than Earth Before

Scientists claim that Mars was a wet planet with liquid water pooled in deep craters, and rivers that snaked through its jagged terrain several billions of years ago. The Red Planet is believed to have a thick atmosphere with mountaintops that pierce the sky that is unlike any mountain on Erath.

However, Mars has become a cold, barren desert world with a thin atmosphere and no water in sight. That is why scientists have sent missions via rovers and orbiters on Mars to study the relics of the ancient planet's past.

Mars Was More Beautiful Than Earth

Scientists have been desperately looking for any sign of "missing" life on Mars in recent years. One of NASA's famous scientists, Dr. Becky McCauley released a video clip talking about the possible tragic story of Mars that made it what it is today. She said that Mars was like Earth 4.5 billion years ago based on the evidence they found of lakes and streams that were once present on the Red Planet.

In an article published in The Press Stories, Dr. McCauley shared that Mars was "wetter and hotter" than Earth and filled with lakes and oceans when the universe formed billions of years ago. At that time when Solar System was created, Mars was a small brother to Earth because both planets formed from the same elements.

She added that the study of Mars would help scientists learn about the evolution of Earth and other planets in the Solar System. The manifestations of life on Earth progressed with the movement of tectonic plates, but the geological activity of Mars has stopped. And it has lost its own frozen water on its surface and became a dry planet.

According to a 2018 report from The Atlantic, NASA has confirmed that early Mars has a warm environment, with organic material and liquid water that could have made life on the planet possible. These findings were made possible through the Curiosity rover's help, showing that there are man clues about the history of Mars that future rovers could dig up from rocks or its atmosphere.

ALSO READ: NASA's Perseverance Rover Images Reveal That Jezero Crater in Mars Was an Ancient Lake 3.7 Billion Years Ago

Mars Lost its "Noble Element" That Turned it Into a Dry Planet

Scientists believe that a big event must have happened on Mars several billions of years ago that contributed to the climate change on Mars and turned it into a dry planet with dried-up lakes.

NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Turbulent Evolution (MAVEN) scientists reveal that most of the atmosphere of Mars was lost in space. They found that 65% of the argon in Mars' atmosphere was lost in space. Argon is a constant "noble gas" and the only process that can turn it into space is called "sputtering" due to solar wind.

Ions are picked up by the solar wind and physically knock atmospheric gas into space. MAVEN scientists tracked argon because sputtering can remove the noble gas. They could use this information to determine how sputtering also removed other atoms and molecules, such as carbon dioxide.

Without a stable atmosphere, it also removed liquid water that supports life on Mars. Evidence of dry riverbeds and minerals show that the Martian climate was much different in the past than it is today.