It has been exactly one year since the robot Curiosity landed on the red planet. These are some of the most important discoveries he has made during these twelve months of exploration.
Radiation.During its flight to Mars, the Curiosity rover was recording the cosmic and solar radiation that acted on the spacecraft. The data have allowed us to calculate that, with the current propulsion and protection systems,the dose received in a manned round trip to the red planet would be around 0.66 sievert. The space agencies propose that crews do not exceed doses of 1 sievert.
Organic molecules.Samples it took in February in sedimentary rocks from the old Yellowknife Bay riverbed, the Crater Gale area where Curiosity has been operating, contain sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon, essential ingredients for living things that make that the possibility of past Martian life is not ruled out.
Rivers.The discovery of conglomerates – rock formed by a mixture of stones and sand – in the sediments of the Martian crater Gale, as well as rounded pebbles similar to those of terrestrial rivers, reveal a watery past of the red planet. Scientists have estimated that the Martian river in this region must have been between 0.3 and 90 cm deep, with a water velocity of between 0.2 and 0.75 meters per second.
The atmosphere.Mars was a planet very similar to Earth. So much so that it had a dense atmosphere that it could make its surface a humid and warm place. Butabout 4 billion years ago began a gradual process of destruction of this atmosphereat the hands of the solar wind until giving rise to the dry and desolate planet that it is today. Carbon dioxide is the predominant gas in Martian air today.
