European Space Agency's Trace Gross Orbiter (TGO)
The spacecraft has now discoveredpreviously unseen signatures of ozone (O3) and carbon dioxide (CO2), based on a full Martian year of observations by the Atmospheric Chemistry Sensitive Facility (ACS). Traces of these gases have been found where researchers did not expect to find them, in layers of the atmosphere where scientists are “hunting” for methane. The findings are presented in two new papers published by Kevin Olsen of the University of Oxford, UK, and Alexander Trokhimovsky of the Institute space research of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
Most of the methane is produced on Earth inthe result of life, from bacteria to livestock and human activities. Therefore, detecting methane on other planets is extremely exciting. It is worth considering that gas is known to decay after about 400 years, which means that any methane present must have been produced or released in the relatively recent past.
Ozone, which forms a layer in the upper layersatmosphere both on Mars and on Earth, helps keep its chemical composition stable. Finding traces of ozone and carbon dioxide in the range where TGO hunts for methane is a completely unexpected result for scientists.
Detecting an unexpected CO2 signature inwhere we hunt for methane is very important. This trace could not be accounted for before, and so it may play a role in detecting small amounts of methane on Mars.
Alexander Trokhimovsky
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