More Than 15,000 Space Junk on Mars Surface Accumulated for Over 50 Years, Scientists Claim

Cagri Kilic, a postdoctoral research fellow in robotics at West Virginia University, calculated the amount of space junk on Mars in the past 50 years. He said that the Red Planet has 15,694 pounds of trash.

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Junkyard Campfire Moon

Space Junk on Mars

Different countries sent 18 human-made objects to Mars on over 14 separate missions. However, according to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, humankind has left many pieces of debris on the planet's surface over the decades.

According to Newsweek, Kilic, an expert on Mars and moon rovers, calculated the combined mass of all spacecraft dispatched to Mars (22,000 pounds) and deducted the weight of the ship currently in use on the planet's surface (6,306 pounds).

Debris Sources of Mars' Space Junk

There were three main sources of space junk on Mars, which included discarded hardware, inactive spacecraft, and crashed spacecraft, according to PopSci.

On every Mars mission, a spacecraft must have a module that safeguards it. The craft throws away sections of the module when it descends. These bits may land in various places on the planet's surface. A lower heat shield, for example, may land in one region, while a parachute may land in another. This debris can shatter into smaller pieces when it hits the ground. The Martian winds then have the potential to blow these tiny fragments away.

Inactive and Crashed Spacecraft

There are nine dormant spacecraft on the surface of Mars that make up the different debris. The Mars 3 lander, Mars 6 lander, Viking 1 and Viking 2 landers, the Sojourner rover, the Beagle 2 lander that was once lost, the Phoenix lander, the Spirit rover, and the Opportunity rover that recently died were now considered historical relics.

Along with the netting material discovered recently, other little, wind-blown trash was also discovered. The Perseverance rover discovered a sizable, glittering thermal blanket on June 2022, which is 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) from the landing site. Opportunity (2005) and Curiosity (2012) discovered leftover parts of their landing craft.

Everything on the Martian surface experiences wears and tear. A few pieces of Curiosity's aluminum wheels have broken off and are likely lying around along its path. In July 2021, Perseverance intentionally dropped a drill bit into the surface so it could replace it with a brand-new, clean bit and continue gathering samples.

Another big source of trash is the fragments of destroyed spacecraft. At least two spacecraft have crashed, while four more have lost contact just before or immediately after landing. The most challenging aspect of every Mars landing mission is safely falling to the planet's surface.

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Perseverance Debris

Scientists are concerned about the risk of Mars waste on its ongoing and upcoming missions. The Perseverance teams keep track of every piece of debris they come across. They also look for anything that could taint the samples the rover is gathering. NASA engineers have also thought Perseverance might become entangled in landing debris, although they have determined the low risk.