The Sun is now entering a period of peak activity called “solar maximum”, which occurs approximately every 11 years. During this period, giant explosions erupt on the Sun’s surface, including solar flares and what are called coronal mass ejections. When a series of these solar events erupt, it is called a solar storm, and these emit radiation deep into space.
This is also the reason why people have been able to see such strong northern lights in more places than in northern Norway this year.
This radiation will now be used by Nasa to find out how people can live on Mars in the future, writes Sky News.
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Will find out how hospitable Mars really is
Down here on Earth, we are protected because of the planet’s magnetic field, but Mars is said to have lost this protection a long time ago. Therefore, “the red planet” is more vulnerable to the sun’s energetic particles.
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Scientists still do not know how badly solar storms, and the radiation from them, will affect humans and robots on Mars in the future. This is what they hope they can now find out with the help of the space probe Maven (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutionN) and the Curiosity rover.
Watch video: This solar storm knocked out radio signals on Earth last year
The Maven spacecraft has been in orbit around Mars since 2014, while the Curiosity rover has been on the ground on Mars since 2012. Maven observes radiation, solar particles and more from high above Mars. It can detect large solar storms early from its position, and can therefore send warnings to other Mars spacecraft when radiation levels start to rise. The advanced warning enables the teams piloting these spacecraft to shut down instruments that may be vulnerable to solar storms, and which can disrupt electronics and radio communications.
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At the same time, the Curiosity rover collects data via an instrument on how much radioactivity there is on the ground. This instrument has been named the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD). When the solar storms are now underway, Nasa will see if there are any changes in the reports from RAD.
In this way, scientists can learn more about how hospitable Mars really is, and what kind of protection astronauts must have. This will also be crucial in determining how humans can live on Mars in the future.
Hope to get more answers
According to Tech Times, Nasa will also use solar maximum to investigate how Mars went from being a hot, wet world to its current frozen desert state.
Mars sometimes experiences intense dust storms, and these are particularly precarious during solar maximum when the planet orbits closer to the sun. These storms may contribute to water loss from Mars’ atmosphere, and be one of the reasons for the transition from a habitable world to the current dry state, the researchers believe.
They are therefore fascinated by the possibility of a global dust storm coinciding with a solar storm, and how this affects Mars’ atmosphere. This solar maximum will also occur at the same time as Mars’ dustiest season, and presents an opportune moment to explore these phenomena, writes Tech Times.
