The problem of Martian waste by subsequent research missions unexpectedly surfaced in the media in August 2022. NASA’s Roving Probe captured an image of a UFO resembling a twisted vortex that was on the surface red planet. After a moment of ecstasy, someone noticed that the “mysterious artifact” was nothing but a piece of string that had broken off from the probe’s landing parachute. After a moment of panic, the first articles appeared in the American media about the fact that Mars is about to look like an entire Earth’s trash can.
It was not the first incident of its kind. A few months ago, a Martian rover spotted something interesting on the surface – a bright white dot. When he approached the site of the artifact, it turned out that the area resembled a typical dirt dump. In the middle was the damaged dome of the rover’s landing craft perseveranceWith umbrella debris scattered carelessly.
This debris is a byproduct of a successful space mission, that is, the effects of the landing of one of NASA’s technological marvels that occurred in February 2021. Such scenes will occur more often, as Mars is the target of all space agencies of world powers. If it continues like this, the upcoming Mars rover mission will indeed be a great adventure in discovering the next debris left from the various terrestrial object landings. And the problem is getting more serious.
First, let’s find out where this garbage comes from on the red planet. This is the result of both successful and unsuccessful space missions. If contact was lost with the probe, it would have effectively crashed onto the surface of Mars. If the probe lands successfully, it ignores the heat shield and parachute. Sometimes everything breaks into little pieces blown by the Martian wind for miles away. An example is another historical discovery of the perseverance chariot, which was observed lying on rocks Thermal blanket set in rocks. It was two kilometers from where the rover had landed. Other rovers on Mars have faced similar situations – Curiosity in 2012 and Opportunity in 2005. They also found the remains of their landing modules.
The surface of Mars is turning into a junkyard. Subsequent Mars missions should remember that they could find, for example, the remnants of the Mars 3 missions, the Vikings 1, the Vikings 2, the Sojourner Rover, the lost Beagle 2 lander, the Phoenix lander, the Soul rover, or the Rover roving. NASA experts argue that all things are in good condition and can be treated as Martian relics, but many people with an environmental stance are not convinced by such arguments. In their opinion, Mars inevitably turns into a landfill by human activity.
NASA is very reluctant to address this issue, but rovers often lose various parts along the way. Such was the case with the aluminum parts of Curiosity’s wheels, which fell off and may have been scattered somewhere along the route it took on the Red Planet. Another tricky topic is the replacement of the drill bit in July 2021 for the Perseverance Chariot, which was simply dumped and eroded on the surface of Mars.
Scientist Kajri Kilik From West Virginia University, I decided to count how many devices from Earth there are on the surface of the Red Planet. It turned out to be impressive 15.5 tons, of which 10 tons is completely useless scrap metal from previous successful or disastrous Mars missions. Of course, one might say that’s not much, but there is an ethical issue with plans to explore Mars. Kajri Kilik It is proposed to write a code of conduct for the planets Solar SystemTo reduce the amount of garbage that subsequent tasks leave on their surface. It is enough to slowly turn our planet into a huge garbage can.
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