Mystery of Marsseems to be completely unraveled. John Brandenberg, a senior researcher at spacecraft manufacturer Technologies Corp, explained not only why Earth's space neighbor is red, but also why there is no life on this planet. According to the astronomer, a significant event for Mars happened about 180 million years ago. Then a nuclear explosion occurred on the Red Planet, which turned all life into dry sand.
"The Martian surface is covered with a thin layer of radioactive substances, including uranium, thorium and potassium. There are many radioactive isotopes in the planet's atmosphere. They were calculated thanks to the latest gamma-ray spectrometry data conducted by NASA," Brandenberg told reporters.
According to the scientist, the catastrophe that occurred in the northern part of Mars, in the Acidalian Sea, was of a natural nature. The radiation exposure was equivalent to 1 million hydrogen bombs. He also suggested that a similar tragedy may one day overtake the Earth.
NASA has already said it finds Brandenberg's idea "intriguing and exciting." "In order to test this theory, it is necessary to send an additional mission to the Acidalian Sea to find out the causes of the nuclear explosion," said NASA spokesman David Beaty.
About 4 billion years ago, Mars was a warm and humid planet, and the air pressure at its surface, according to scientists, was comparable to atmospheric pressure on Earth. However, later the Red Planet lost much of its atmosphere and turned into a cold and dry desert.
There are several versions of the disaster. According to the first, the atmosphere disappeared due to strong meteorite bombardments, and according to the other, the atmosphere was gradually removed by the solar wind - a stream of charged particles from the Sun. After all, Mars cannot withstand the solar wind, since, like the Earth, it does not have a powerful magnetic field that deflects particles.