A new international study funded by NASA has shed light on how Mars got its iconic red color. The research suggests that the planet had a cool and wet climate billions of years ago, making it potentially habitable for life.
The current Martian atmosphere is too cold and thin to support liquid water, but previous missions have found evidence of ancient rivers, lakes, and minerals that only form in the presence of liquid water.
The study, published February 25 in Nature Communications, centers on the iron mineral ferrihydrite, which forms in cool water at lower temperatures than other minerals like hematite. This suggests that Mars may have had an environment capable of sustaining liquid water before it transitioned to a dry environment.
“We believe ferrihydrite is everywhere in the dust and also probably in the rock formations,” said lead author Adam Valantinas. “We can now better test this using observational data and novel laboratory methods.”
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasa-new-study-on-why-mars-is-red-supports-potentially-habitable-past