Humans have left more than 15,000 pounds of trash on Mars in the past 50 years and no one has ever set foot on the Red Planet.
Kajri Kilic, a postdoctoral research fellow in robotics at West Virginia University, analyzed the mass of all rovers and orbiters sent to Mars and subtracted the weight of what is currently in operation, yielding 15,694 pounds of debris.
Trash includes discarded instruments, inactive spacecraft and those that crashed to the surface – specifically the Soviet Union’s Mars 2 lander, which landed in 1971.
Not only are humans polluting another planet, but scientists fear that debris could contaminate samples collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover currently searching for ancient life on Mars.
One scientist estimated that there are 15,694 pounds of trash on Mars. Most of it stems from neglected devices like this thermal blanket that protects NASA’s tenacity and survives through the infernal atmosphere.
Lots of trash is inevitable, as many parts must be disposed of in order to protect the craft as it soars through the infernal atmosphere of the red planet — including NASA’s tenacity that endured seven minutes of hell when it landed in February 2021.
The rover, which is collecting samples from Mars that will be brought back to Earth, took pictures of the debris during its mission.
In June, a NASA team on Earth spotted a distant light in an image sent by Perseverance, and then directed the rover to take a look.
A few weeks later, Perseverance entered the Hogwallow Flats and got a high-resolution, 360-degree Mastcam-Z panorama.
The Creativity Helicopter took a picture of the landing gear used as it arrived with perseverance. The pictures are a canopy and a cone-shaped back cover that protects the rover in space
Recently in June, perseverance came upon a piece of the tattered Dacron web that helped it land safely on Mars.
Due to the Martian winds, the tight web began to untangle and was seen three weeks later as a ball of knotted, string-like material.
The image showed that the bright light was a reflection from a thermal blanket.
This was used to protect a car the size of a car from the extreme temperatures it was exposed to while descending.
The blanket is folded into a corner of several rocks and appears to reflect light.
The rover’s companion Ingenuity helicopter also took a photo of the landing gear used as it arrives with perseverance in 2021.
The canopy and cone-shaped rear cover that protects the rover in space, as well as during its fiery descent toward the surface of Mars, are seen in stunning detail.
Recently in June, Perseverance came upon a piece of the tattered Dacron web that helped it land safely on Mars.
Due to the Martian winds, the tight web began to untangle and was seen three weeks later as a ball of knotted, string-like material.
Opportunity died for NASA now on Mars, but it sent a photo of its heat shield in 2004, along with debris scattered on Earth for several miles.
There are a total of nine inactive spacecraft sitting on the surface of Mars, including the Mars 3 probe, the Mars 6 probe, the Viking 1 lander, the Viking 2 probe, the Sojourner rover, the European Space Agency’s Schiaparelli probe (pictured), the Phoenix probe, Spirit. Rover and Rover Opportunity
Then there are the dead robots on Mars, specifically NASA’s Chance that was active from 2004 to mid 2018.
This rover weighs about 347 pounds, about the same as a hippo, and is now stuck in Martin’s dirt.
However, it left a trail of trash while transiting the Red Planet.
NASA sent NASA a photo of its heat shield in 2004, along with debris strewn across the Earth for several miles.
There are a total of nine inactive spacecraft present on the surface of Mars, including Mars 3, Mars 6, Viking 1, Viking 2, Sojourner, ESA’s Schiaparelli probe, Phoenix probe, Spirit rover and lander . opportunity rover.
According to Kelick, most of the robots are still intact, and space agencies consider them historical monuments rather than discarded trash.
In his book, Kilic writes: “When you add the mass of all the spacecraft sent to Mars, you get about 22,000 pounds (9,979 kilograms). Conversation.
Subtract the weight of the rover currently operating on the surface — 6,306 pounds (2,860 kilograms) — and you’re left with 15,694 pounds (7,119 kilograms) of human debris on the surface of Mars.
“Explorer. Unapologetic entrepreneur. Alcohol fanatic. Certified writer. Wannabe tv evangelist. Twitter fanatic. Student. Web scholar. Travel buff.”
