NASA is promising another big Mars announcement on Thursday.
The space agency will be delivering new findings on the Red Planet’s atmosphere.
NASA isn’t divulging any information ahead of its Thursday afternoon news conference and the agency declined to comment after a request was made Wednesday. NASA plans to announce scientific findings from its ongoing Mars exploration on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET at its headquarters in Washington.
However, for those who cannot wait until Thursday to learn more about the new findings, a little Googling might reveal a few clues for what to expect. Four of the speakers participating in NASA’s news conference are listed as authors in a paper addressing NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft’s findings on Mars’ atmosphere.
The paper details how the loss of atmospheric particles into space could have contributed to the evolution of the Red Planet’s climate over the last 4 billion years.
The MAVEN, which stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, has been on a mission to study the planet’s upper atmosphere since its arrival to Mars’ orbit in September 2014.
The spacecraft was tasked with finding out how Mars transformed from a warm, wet planet during its early history to the cold, dry planet that it is today, according to NASA.
The spacecraft was also looking into whether gas loss through Mars’ atmosphere may have been a driving force behind the planet’s climate change.
Based on its findings, MAVEN’s mission could offer insight into the history of Mars’ climate, water and habitability.
NASA has been making waves with its announcements lately.
In September, the agency revealed that it discovered flowing water on the ancient Martian surface, which could potentially support life or offer refuge to microbes.
“The existence of liquid water, even if it is super-salty briny water, gives the possibility that if there’s life on Mars, that we have a way to describe how it might survive,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA during September’s announcement.
And in July, NASA said its Kepler spacecraft found “Earth’s bigger, older cousin,” a significant discovery highlighting the first planet that is roughly Earth-size to be discovered in the habitable zone of a star that is similar to our Sun.
Although it is not clear what NASA will be announcing on Mars’ atmosphere, the agency plans to broadcast the event live on NASA Television and its website. It will also be answering questions through social media and will use the hashtag #AskNASA.
