The current photo voltaic storms induced epic occasions right here on Earth, the place auroras have been seen throughout a lot of the globe final month. These storms, brought on by heightened exercise from the solar, don’t solely have an effect on our planet although — additionally they have an effect on Mars. NASA missions just like the Curiosity rover have been observing the results of photo voltaic storms there, the place the very skinny environment creates a doubtlessly harmful radiation atmosphere. If we ever wish to ship folks to go to the purple planet, we’re going to wish to be taught extra about this radiation and the way it’s affected by occasions like photo voltaic storms.
The consequences of the photo voltaic storms may be seen clearly in the way in which that they have an effect on Curiosity’s cameras. The charged particles from the photo voltaic storms hit the digicam and create specks throughout the photographs, which may be seen most clearly in animations. Two animations from Curiosity’s Navigation Digital camera (MSL) instrument present the charged particles, which appear to be snow or static over the view of Mars — test them out on NASA’s Jet Propulsion Collaborator web site right here and right here.
As cool as these storms look when seen by way of digital eyes, if astronauts had been on the planet’s floor when such a photo voltaic storm hit, they might have been bombarded with a radiation dose of 8,100 micrograys, which NASA says is equal to 30 chest X-rays. That isn’t sufficient to kill somebody, however it’s a massive radiation spike that has researchers contemplating tips on how to shield future astronauts.
One possibility is to make use of the Mars panorama for defense, similar to heading beneath floor. “Cliffsides or lava tubes would supply further shielding for an astronaut from such an occasion. In Mars orbit or deep area, the dose price could be considerably extra,” mentioned the Southwest Analysis Institute’s Don Hassler, the lead researcher on Curiosity’s Radiation Evaluation Detector instrument. “I wouldn’t be stunned if this energetic area on the solar continues to erupt, that means much more photo voltaic storms at each Earth and Mars over the approaching weeks.”
NASA spacecraft in orbit across the planet additionally noticed the results of the photo voltaic storms on the martian floor. Some even induced devices to drop out, like one of many Mars Odyssey’s cameras, which was taken out for round an hour. The Maven (Mars Environment and Risky EvolutioN) orbiter was additionally in a position to see auroras over Mars, which occur by way of a distinct mechanism than right here on Earth as Mars has no world magnetic area.
“This was the most important photo voltaic energetic particle occasion that MAVEN has ever seen,” mentioned MAVEN Area Climate Lead Christina Lee of the College of California, Berkeley’s Area Sciences Laboratory. “There have been a number of photo voltaic occasions in previous weeks, so we have been seeing wave after wave of particles hitting Mars.”
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