Noora Alsaeed has often thought about building a snowman on Mars.
Lets go over that again. A snowman on Mars? That desertlike, desolate planet over there? The one covered in sand? What an unusual daydream.
But Alsaeed knows a few things that the rest of us dont. She is a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder whose work relies on data from a NASA spacecraft that orbits Mars. She studies the red planets polar regions and the peculiar molecules suspended in the atmosphere above them. She knows that on Mars, it snows.
Just like Earth, Mars has seasons, and during the winterabout twice as long as oursicy crystals cascade from the clouds and accumulate on the frigid surface. This sounds unbelievable, given that Mars is notoriously dry. But Mars gets around that little technicality by substituting intricate, six-sided water snow for something else. The Martian atmosphere, many times thinner than Earths, is primarily composed of carbon dioxide. In the most bitter conditions, the carbon dioxide transforms from a gas into small, cube-shaped crystals of icespecifically dry ice, the kind we earthlings use to set a spooky scene on Halloween. The ice is too heavy to remain in the Martian sky, so it flurries down, settling in shallow piles on the red planet.
Mars is the planet that, aside from Earth, has likely made the largest impression on the public imagination. Were well acquainted with Mars as the planet with all the rovers, the place where Elon Musk wants people to make a second home, the obvious next destination now that humans have been to the moon. But under all that hype are subtler, downright fascinating details about the fourth planet from the sun, such as its mesmerizing soundscape and its richly textured rock formations, layered like mille-feuille. Carbon-dioxide snow is just one of Marss many curiosities.
Read: Marss soundscape is strangely beautiful
Scientists began to suspect that Marss polar regions could become cold enough to turn carbon dioxide into snow as early as the 1800s, Paul Hayne, a planetary scientist at CU Boulder who studies Martian snowfall, told me. A NASA mission in the 1970s made observations that would later be interpreted as the first signs of carbon-dioxide snowfall. In 2008, a spacecraft that landed in Marss northern plains detected evidence of snowthe water-ice kind!falling from the atmosphere. But there was no evidence that the water snow actually reached the ground; the air on Mars is so thin that the water sublimates into a gas before the crystals can touch the surface.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been circling Mars for more than 15 years, has captured carbon-dioxide snow reaching the surface, though. (Scientists dont have photographic or video evidence of carbon-dioxide snowfall, only detections made with laser technology and observations in wavelengths that are invisible to our eyes. Since most of the snow on Mars falls in the darkness of polar night, we need to use wavelengths of radiation outside of the visible spectrum, Hayne said.) The snow even accumulates, mostly near sloped areas such as cliff sides and crater edges, Sylvain Piqueux, a research scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory who studies Mars, told me. He said that enough of it piles up tohypotheticallysnowshoe in.
That idea tickles the imagination. What might it be like to stand on the Martian surface in the middle of winter, the temperatures finally cold enough to loose some molecules from the sky? Snowfall occurs only during the cold Martian night, so if you brought some night-vision goggles, youd see that you were enveloped in a bright haze. Carbon-dioxide snowflakes are tiny, smaller than the width of a strand of hairmuch smaller than their six-sided, water-ice counterparts. It wouldnt look as magical as it does on Earth, Alsaeed said.
But a Martian blizzard would be lovely in its own way. It would be extraordinarily quiet, Hayne said. You might even be able to catch the sound of little carbon-dioxide snow-cubes falling onto the ground. A gust of wind could kick up an opaque column of glittering snow, he said. Glittering and snowtwo words that may reshape your mental picture of Mars.
Read: Weve never seen Mars quite like this
So if astronauts could, in theory, snowshoe on the red planet, what else could they do? Skiing is likely out, Hayne said. Part of what makes skiing possible on Earth is that a thin film of liquid water forms on the surfaces of the ice particles as your ski creates friction, lubricating your motion, he said. On Mars, that friction would cause icy particles to turn into vapor and billow away, which would probably make your skis a bit squirrelly.
The experts dont really know whether other classic winter activities could take place on Mars. The idea of dealing with snow thats made of CO2 is just so alien to me, Alsaeed said. Its gonna be a completely different ball game. Piqueux isnt sure whether carbon-dioxide snow would clump enough to form a snowball, let alone a snowman; dry ice is not exactly a chemical enigma, but how the stuff behaves under Martian conditions is more mysterious, he said. At the very least, you might manage a snow angel. And as for opening your mouth wide to catch a cube-shaped snowflake? You cant stick your tongue out on Mars, ever! Hayne said. (Sorry, I had to ask!)
There is much to learn. Snow might be a universal process for [worlds] with an atmosphere, Piqueux said. Learning how it works might tell us quite a bit about planetswhat shapes their surface, how they evolve, and what they look like. Scientists theorize that Mars was more like Earth a few billion years agowarm and balmy, with real lakes and seas. Perhaps it snowed more back then too, with chunky flakes of frozen water, and the influence of that ancient precipitation remains embedded at the planets poles.
Many decades ago, well before any space robots arrived on Mars, scientists imagined the red planet to be a bustling place, believing that the surface markings they saw through their telescopes were evidence of intelligent engineering. The astronomer Percival Lowell wrote at length about these markings, which he called canals, in The Atlantic in 1895, sparking in the public imagination the tantalizing promise of an inhabited Mars. That ended up not being the case: Any life that may have arisen on Mars is either long dead or hiding out of view, buried away from the glare of the sun. The dissimilarity to Earth was almost disappointing.
From the May 1895 issue: Mars
But still, there are familiar echoes, as Lowell himself recognized. If astronomy teaches anything, it teaches that man is but a detail in the evolution of the universe, and that resemblant though diverse details are inevitably to be expected in the host of orbs around him, he wrote. He learns that though he will probably never find his double anywhere, he is destined to discover any number of cousins scattered through space. Cousins like Martian snowperhaps not enough to make a genuine snowman, but certainly enough to stir our imagination from millions of miles away.
Read the rest here:
Mars Gives Snow an Alien Twist - The Atlantic
- White People Are Going to Colonize Mars, and Other Fears From Today's Campuses - Tablet Magazine - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Bizarre yogurt experiment could be key to colonizing Mars but there will be disgusting consequences, say... - The US Sun - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- SpaceX Must Build 1,000 Starships In 10 Years To Reach Mars Goal. So Far, 0 Starships Have Made It To Space - Jalopnik - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- A Science Fiction Writer in Space: Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke - tor.com - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Increase your crypto portfolio performance 10X in 2023 with ... - Analytics Insight - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Happy Birthday Elon Musk: Spotlight on the Remarkable Life of a ... - Transcontinental Times - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Jony Ive's latest gig is the seal for King Charles's space project ... - AppleInsider - June 30th, 2023 [June 30th, 2023]
- Top 5 Technologies That Will Make Mars Habitable - Jumpstart Media - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- 10 Best Paradox Interactive Games - TheGamer - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- Hanwha propels Nuri rocket project - The Investor - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- Do Androids Dream of Terrible Streets? | Compact Mag - Compact Mag - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- All about Mars colonization and news 2023 - From Space With Love - March 4th, 2023 [March 4th, 2023]
- New NASA Nuclear Rocket Plan Aims to Get to Mars in Just 45 Days - January 23rd, 2023 [January 23rd, 2023]
- Mars - Wikipedia - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- Will China's Zhurong Mars rover wake from worrying hibernation ... - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- A Mars rover scientist is about to scale carbon-oxygen batteries - January 22nd, 2023 [January 22nd, 2023]
- Next Mars Orbiter - Wikipedia - November 25th, 2022 [November 25th, 2022]
- Occupy Mars: The Game on Steam - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]
- Life on Mars - Wikipedia - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]
- Coeur dAlene student selected to be on the first high school-aged team to train in the Mars Desert Research Station - KREM.com - October 25th, 2022 [October 25th, 2022]
- Marscoin - October 23rd, 2022 [October 23rd, 2022]
- How Elon Musk used sci-fi and social media to shape his narrative : It's Been a Minute - NPR - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- New ghost tour unearths the grisly side of Old Montreal this Halloween season - The Suburban Newspaper - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Competing in the new 'Space Race' - Royal Aeronautical Society - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- The Martian (film) - Wikipedia - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Elon Musk Racing To Colonize Mars, He Says This Will 'Destroy All Life On Earth' - PayPal Holdings (NASDA - Benzinga - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- The Origin of the Hollow Earth Theory - History of Yesterday - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Why sending a Native American into space is a big deal - WBUR News - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Going to Space Will Not Save Us - Jezebel - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Its Science Over Capitalism: Kim Stanley Robinson and the Imperative of Hope - The MIT Press Reader - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Dubais space center to simulate life on Mars in the Metaverse - Al Arabiya English - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Cosmic Cowboy is a space odyssey for 2022 - The Boston Globe - September 20th, 2022 [September 20th, 2022]
- Trump pushed for nuclear testing on the moon during final months of presidency - Salon - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Whitest Kids U Know Wrapping Production on Animated Movie Mars, Final WKUK Project After Trevor Moores Death - Variety - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- NASA has created oxygen from the atmosphere of Mars, will the dream of colonizing now come true? - News84Media - News84Media.com - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Here Are The Top 7 Space Organizations Of The World! - Jagran Josh - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Frank Drake's Legacy, Or: Are We All Alone In The Universe? - Hackaday - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Deliver Us Mars Tugs on the Heart Strings in New Story Trailer - Push Square - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- New water map of Mars shows potential landing spots on the planet - TNW - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Stranded: Alien Dawn is the next game from the Surviving Mars devs - Shacknews - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Launches: Life in Venus clouds? Rocket Lab to check - EarthSky - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- How Europe's Space Industry Could Blast Off - Center for European Policy Analysis - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- STARMUS V: Lunar dust allergy, alternatives to planet Earth and how the festival came to Armenia - ARMENPRESS - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- When will the first baby be born in space? - Buffalo News - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- 20 Best Xbox One Space Games To Explore The Great Unknown - Gameranx - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Japanese craft brewery and tech company to simulate making beer on Moon and Mars - SoraNews24 - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- The Moon Archive Meant To Preserve Life On Earth - Twisted Sifter - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- Fireside Chat With Everdome CEO Robert Gryn on the Nurturing of the Metaverse in a Hyperrealistic Format - Tech Times - July 29th, 2022 [July 29th, 2022]
- More People Need to Watch The Best Sci-Fi Show on Prime Video - CNET - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- The CAPSTONE Mission Launches A New Era In The Colonization Of The Moon - Science 2.0 - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Bedu announces its second curated art drop - My Startup World - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Mykhailo Federov wishes Elon Musk on his birthday, says 'whole world has chance to live' - Techstory - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- From Autonomous Cities to US Presidency: The Future Is Now Film Shows What Blockchain Leaders Think About Governance - Geeks World Wide - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Elon Musk Plans To Launch Thousands of 394 Feet Tall Rockets To Mars - Wccftech - June 11th, 2022 [June 11th, 2022]
- For All Mankind season 3: everything we know - What To Watch - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- 5 Up-and-Coming DOGE Projects that Might be Worth Your Money - NewsBTC - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- My idea for a new era: The town hall from TED2022 - TED Blog - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Elon Musk Sounds Alarm Over 'Population Collapse' Again - Benzinga - Benzinga - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Star Wars: How The Movie Would Have Changed With George Lucas's Original Script - Zyri - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- LongHash Ventures Partners With Protocol Labs to Launch the Third LongHashX Accelerator Filecoin Cohort - Crypto Briefing - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Why we should colonize Mars (and other planets and the satellites too) - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- Chinese rover makes surprise discovery about liquid water on Mars - Big Think - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- The apocalypse after the apocalypse - newframe.com - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- OPINION: The 'good old days' are what we make them - Anchorage Daily News - May 23rd, 2022 [May 23rd, 2022]
- A new stage for Mars: Web3 colonization of Mars has begun - Digital Journal - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- WATCH: Apple TV Plus Releases Trailer For Season 3 Of 'For All Mankind' - We Got This Covered - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- 30 Of the best fried foods around the world - KAKE - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Crypto.com Spent Its Way to the Top. Then the Market Crashed. Now What? - GQ - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- The US And England Will Never Agree On These Foods - Mashed - May 21st, 2022 [May 21st, 2022]
- Could Lunar Soil be the Key to Reaching Mars? - The National Herald - May 20th, 2022 [May 20th, 2022]
- NASA will use the metaverse to build VR scenarios for Mars missions - Interesting Engineering - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- 10 Best New Teen Movies of 2022 Most Anticipated Teen Movies 2022 - Seventeen - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- SpaceX mission returns to Earth | WORLD - WORLD News Group - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- Wealthy nations are carving up space and its riches and leaving other countries behind - Jacksonville Journal-Courier - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- All Elon Musk's SpaceX rockets revealed with disasters that turned into blazes - The US Sun - May 11th, 2022 [May 11th, 2022]
- Introducing the 'Mobile Gantry' 3D printer that could facilitate the future colonization of Mars - 3D Printing Industry - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- The Billionaire Space Race: Should We Be Worried? - New University - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Martian rocks may give insight into the Red Planets violent history - BGR - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Galactic Civilizations IV: Core worlds, colonies, and colonization guide - PC Invasion - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Elon Musk, Twitter and the future: His long-term vision is even weirder than you think - Salon - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]