There has been much anticipation for what the JWST's images of other planets in the
universe, particularly Mars, may signify.
The first official science images from the JWST have arrived, and scientists haven't
recovered from the shock of how amazing they are.
The JWST was built largely to observe distant objects, and it's already delivering on that
promise.
They were anticipating incredibly detailed photographs from this formidable telescope
but have been pleasantly surprised.
This bodes well for the future of space astronomy.
These pictures depict the cosmos in infrared, a wavelength of light humans can't see but
which is great for showcasing the Warm Glow of specks of gas and clumps of interstellar
dust.
As the Space Telescope is positioned far from the heat of our sun and is surrounded by the
cold of space, it is able to capture these images with unparalleled clarity.
In addition, the JWST has discovered a surprising finding on Mars that has astonished the whole
space industry owing to its cutting-edge components and design.
What has the JWST discovered on Mars?
What does this mean for exploration of the Solar System?
Explore the groundbreaking finding made by the James Webb Space Telescope on Mars with
us!
Scientists are looking into whether or not exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system,
may support life.
The distance makes transporting humans there almost impossible, despite improvements in
the equipment used to investigate these worlds.
It is impossible for humanity to make the trip over the billions of miles to reach any
of these possibly habitable exoplanets.
However, if you narrow your sights a bit closer to home, the solar system itself holds a planet
that may be able to offer you a warm welcome: Mars, the second planet in the solar system
after Earth in the order of planets beginning with Mercury.
You may sign up to be a volunteer colonist on Mars thanks to the funding of Elon Musk,
one of the most brilliant inventors and richest people on the planet.
Musk's company, SpaceX, has a plan to land the first humans on Mars before the end of
this decade, and the red planet presents genuine opportunities for human settlement.
Given his history, Musk will undoubtedly keep working toward his goal until he succeeds.
However, before the first set of red boots land on Mars, scientists have the opportunity
to explore the planet in detail using the most recent and powerful Space Telescope ever
built and launched, the James Webb Space Telescope.
Actually, ever since we first noticed the canal-like structures on the Martian surface
in the late 1800s, Mars has had a special place in the hearts and minds of people in
a way that no other planet has.
This spawned several legends about Martians, including the 1938 radio play The War of the
Worlds, in which the Martians are speculated to have invaded Earth.
Weirdly, many listeners took the narrative for true news of an invasion that caused widespread
panic.
Even though Mars has just 15 percent of Earth's volume and just over 10 percent of Earth's
mass, the two are quite similar.
The gravity on Mars' surface is just 37% that of Earth.
This is a huge increase in vertical leap, allowing Musk's colonists to jump roughly
three times higher than they could on Earth.
If you enjoy climbing mountains, you will most likely enjoy exploring Mars.
Olympus Mons, a shield volcano on Mars, stands at a whopping 21 kilometers tall and 600 kilometers
across, making it the largest mountain in the solar system.
Despite having developed over billions of years, evidence from volcanic lava flows is
so recent that many experts believe it might still be active, therefore you should use
caution if you decide to climb it.
Also, it goes without saying that the Sun will look much smaller from Mars than it does
here on Earth.
But there's more to it than that, and it has major consequences: when Mars is nearest the
Sun, the southern hemisphere tilts toward the sun, producing a brief, brutally hot summer
while the northern hemisphere experiences a brief, freezing winter.
When Mars is furthest from the Sun, the northern hemisphere has a long, pleasant summer and
the southern hemisphere experiences a long, frigid winter.
Scientists have been able to get their hands on a piece of Mars without ever leaving Earth,
thanks to the tiny traces of Martian atmosphere contained within meteorites that were violently
ejected from the red planet, orbited the solar system among Galactic debris for millions
of years, and eventually crashed to Earth.
There are two moons orbiting Mars, and one of them, Phobos, is doomed to a terrible death.
In around 20 to 40 million years, Phobos will be ripped apart by gravity.
However, this will lead to an intriguing result: the moon's components will create a ring,
similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's, which might endure up to a hundred million years.
Sunsets on Mars are blue, while the sky is pinkish red during the day, the opposite of
Earth.
This is something that astronauts and colonists, whoever gets there first, can look forward
to.
So, what exactly have researchers uncovered on Mars?
Organic molecules, the carbon-containing building blocks of life, may have arisen on Mars through
chemical processes similar to those in batteries, according to 2018 meteorite research.
The United States began monitoring Mars in the 1960s with the launch of Mariner 4 in
1964 and Mariners 6 and 7 in 1969.
Early explorations revealed a barren globe devoid of any evidence of the civilizations
or life that visionaries like Lowell imagined may have existed there.
In 2011, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission sent the Curiosity Rover to the red planet
to investigate whether or not life had existed there.
Following its August 2012 landing inside Gale crater on Mars, the car-sized robot immediately
identified evidence of a long-lived, potentially viable Lake and stream system in the area.
Along with this, Curiosity has found complex chemical compounds and reported seasonal fluctuations
in the methane level of the atmosphere.
NASA's Perseverance Rover, which is looking for life and taking samples, was launched
in July of 2020.
Since the original launch of the Mars 2020 missions two years ago, the robot astrobiologist
has given us new and occasionally expected images of the red planet.
It has taken over 282,000 pictures and captured the first sounds ever produced on Mars using
its sophisticated suite of scientific instruments and cameras.
Adding a new sensory dimension to our distant examination of the planet and helping scientists
better grasp its atmosphere.
To the untrained eye, our sister planet's sandy dry terrain may not appear to be a treasure
trove of scientifically useful data.
However, just like Earth's geology, the rocks on Mars keep a record of what they have been
exposed to over thousands of years.
The quest for biosignatures or maybe traces of previous life within those rocks is at
the heart of perseverance's goal.
For the first part of its journey, the Rover went over the crater floor and gathered eight
Rock samples.
To keep them from threatening life on Earth, experts seek to send them to the planet in
a difficult expedition that may take place in the early 2030s.
But first, further work must be done.
The pictures and sounds acquired thus far by the perseverance can help us understand
what the Rover will investigate next, which is critical to its mission to locate prehistoric
life.
Apart from gathering samples, perseverance has provided another key proof on Mars.
Scientists have studied the Delta scarp, one of the crater's most significant geological
structures, owing to the Rover.
They have established that the jezero crater, which is now a dry wind eroded depression,
was once an ancient Lake supplied continuously by a 120-mile-long river about 3.7 billion
years ago.
As additional evidence, the crater retains a triangular-shaped Delta where the river
formerly flowed into the lake.
The river delta may have been mainly quiet, but there is evidence of high intensity flooding
in the area, changing the sluggish Meandering Waterway into fast-moving flash floods.
These waters were strong enough to move enormous boulders downstream before depositing them
on the lake bottom, maybe due to a severe shift in climate.
Now that we know the landing place was originally a lake, we may look for signs of ancient water
life in the underlying layers.
Perseverance features a number of bells and whistles intended to demonstrate the chemical
nature of its findings.
Another possible evidence of ancient life would be the finding of Organics, substances
that serve as the essential building blocks of Life as We Know It.
Perseverance is capable of identifying these molecules.
Perseverance, though, has done something more exciting.
This next breakthrough has the potential to completely alter the course of space travel.
Another first for this Mission occurred when a gold car, battery-sized instrument successfully
synthesized oxygen from carbon dioxide in the sparse Martian atmosphere.
That is to say, Moxie will aid in bringing humans home safely and ensuring that they
have oxygen available to them.
Moxie uses solid oxide electrolysis to capture atmospheric carbon dioxide, compress it, filter
out impurities, and heat it to release the carbon monoxide and oxygen separately.
By utilizing a heated charged ceramic component, the oxygen is isolated while the carbon monoxide
is released back into the atmosphere.
In just one hour, Moxie produced roughly 5.4 g of nearly 98 percent pure oxygen.
For reference, that's around 10 minutes' worth of oxygen for a human to breathe.
Due to the high energy requirements, the rate of production is capped at 12 g per hour,
or about the same as a large tree produces.
Scientists believe that by increasing the size of this technology by a factor of 100,
it may be utilized to both provide air for future explorers and act as a propellant to
launch astronauts into space.
You may recall that Musk wants to make the fuel that will drive the Starship right there
on Mars.
Scientists are currently focusing on gaining a deeper understanding of the new Delta scientific
program and the exciting new discoveries the spacecraft will make there before turning
the full might of the JWST loose on Mars.
While the new space findings are fascinating and encouraging, NASA plans to use the JWST
to conduct more in-depth research on Mars than ever before.
In order to learn more about Mars and its mysterious weather, the space agency has developed
a new program.
The Space Telescope's vantage point on Earth is unparalleled, allowing it to capture images
of Mars from a perspective no other telescope can match.
Consider the 2018 Mars dust storm, which effectively covered the entire planet.
From the surface of Mars, the sun would have appeared quite small in the Brown Sky.
At the time, Opportunity Rover was on the surface of the planet, but it was so covered
in dust that it was unable to recharge its batteries.
While the spacecrafts in orbit were able to observe the storm from their own Vantage points,
none of them had a view large enough to take in the entire planet at once, and this is
where the JWST comes in!
At its final location, one million miles from Earth, the JWST will be able to see the entire
disk of Mars every two years.
Data from satellites orbiting or approaching the red planet would be supplemented by information
gathered by the powerful Webb Space Telescope if a massive dust storm were to engulf the
planet at a period when Webb could see it.
The data can aid in the study of these storms and in Musk's preparations to protect his
Mars astronauts in the face of them.
The JWST will also observe the red planet in infrared, allowing it to search for chemical
signatures on the Martian hemisphere.
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