Sci-Tech

Sorry would-be Martians - Mars soil may be toxic: research

09 July 2017 - 12:37 By Bruce Gorton
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This image from the right Mast Camera (Mastcam) of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows a scoop full of sand and dust lifted by the rover's first use of the scoop on its robotic arm. In the foreground, near the bottom of the image, a bright object is visible on the ground. The object might be a piece of rover hardware.
This image from the right Mast Camera (Mastcam) of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows a scoop full of sand and dust lifted by the rover's first use of the scoop on its robotic arm. In the foreground, near the bottom of the image, a bright object is visible on the ground. The object might be a piece of rover hardware.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Researchers have found that the surface of Mars may actually be poisonous to the sort of Earth-based life forms that are likely to hitch a ride on any spacecraft.

According to the University of Edinburgh‚ the surface is littered with perchlorates‚ which researchers previously thought could be used as an energy source for bacteria.

However‚ when those perchlorates are exposed to UV light in an environment mimicking that of Mars‚ they kill the bacteria commonly carried by spacecraft.

Not only that‚ but the effect is compounded by two other kinds of chemicals found on Mars’ surface‚ iron oxides and hydrogen peroxide‚ a bleaching chemical.

When all three are present‚ they’re ten times deadlier to bacteria than perchlorates are to their own.

In other words‚ the surface of Mars may be even less habitable than researchers previously thought.

You can read the research at Scientific Reports.

 

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