The Mars rover, Curiosity, is the latest in
a long line of missions to Mars…
Landers sent to scoop its soil and study its
rocks, orbiters sent to map its valleys and
ridges.
They are all asking the same question.
Did liquid water once flow on this dry and
dusty world?
Did it support life in any form?
And are there remnants left to find?
The science that comes out of these missions
may help answer a much larger, more philosophical
question…
Is our planet Earth the norm, in a galaxy
run through with life-bearing planets?
Or is Earth a rare gem, with a unique make-up
and history that allowed it to give rise to
living things?
On Mars, Curiosity has spotted pebbles and
other rocks commonly associated with flowing
water.
It found them down stream on what appears
to be an ancient river fan, where water flowed
down into Gale Crater.
This shows that at some point in the past,
Mars had an atmosphere, cloudy skies, and
liquid water flowing.
So what could have turned it into the desolate
world we know today?
One process that very likely played a role
goes by the unscientific name, “sputtering.”
Like the other planets in our solar system,
Mars is lashed by high-energy photons from
the Sun.
When one of these photons enters the atmosphere
of a planet, it can crash into a molecule,
knocking loose an electron and turning it
into an ion.
The solar wind brings something else: a giant
magnetic field.
When part of the field grazes the planet,
it can attract ions and launch them out into
space.
Another part might fling ions right into the
atmosphere at up to a thousand kilometers
per second.
The ions crash into other molecules, sending
them in all directions like balls in a game
of pool.
Over billions of years, this process could
have literally stripped Mars of its atmosphere,
especially in the early life of the solar
system when the solar wind was more intense
than it is today.
Sputtering has actually been spotted directly
on another dead planet, Venus.
The Venus Express mission found that solar
winds are steadily stripping off lighter molecules
of hydrogen and oxygen.
They escape the planet on the night side,
then ride solar breezes on out into space.
This process has left Venus with an atmosphere
dominated by carbon dioxide gas, a heat trapping
compound that has helped send surface temperatures
up to around 400 degrees Celsius.
The loss of Venus’ atmosphere likely took
place over millions of years, especially during
solar outbursts known as coronal mass ejections.
If these massive blast waves stripped Venus
and Mars of an atmosphere capable of supporting
life… how did Earth avoid the same grim
fate?
We can see the answer as the solar storm approaches
earth.
 
Our planet has what Mars and Venus lack - a
powerful magnetic field generated deep within
its core.
 
This protective shield deflects many of the
high-energy particles launched by the Sun.
In fact, that’s just our first line of defense.
 
Much of the solar energy that gets through
is reflected back to space by clouds, ice,
and snow.
The energy that earth absorbs is just enough
to power a remarkable planetary engine: the
climate.
 
It’s set in motion by the uneveness of solar
heating, due in part to the cycles of day
and night, and the seasons.
That causes warm, tropical winds to blow toward
the poles, and cold polar air toward the equator.
 
Wind currents drive surface ocean currents.
 
This computer simulation shows the Gulf Stream
winding its way along the coast of North America.
This great ocean river carries enough heat
energy to power the industrial world a hundred
times over.
 
It breaks down in massive whirlpools that
spread warm tropical waters over northern
seas.
Below the surface, they mix with cold deep
currents that swirl around undersea ledges
and mountains.
 
Earth’s climate engine has countless moving
parts: tides and terrain, cross winds and
currents -- all working to equalize temperatures
around the globe.
Over time, earth developed a carbon cycle
and an effective means of regulating green
house gases.
In our galaxy, are still-born worlds like
Mars the norm?
Or in Earth, has Nature crafted a prototype
for its greatest experiment: Life?
