Scientists create ‘world map’ of Mars to help upcoming missions; To look

Recently, a group of scientists from New York Abu Dhabi University (NYUAD) in the United Arab Emirates, It used images from the Mars probe to create a sort of ‘world map’ of the red planet.

For researchers, a map of the celestial body could be extremely important to assist astronauts in upcoming missions, surveys, resource extraction, and other activities currently being planned.

Called Mars Atlas, scientists used data collected by the Hope probe, which was sent on a mission from the United Arab Emirates in July 2020; Despite this, the vehicle only reached the orbit of the red star in February 2021. Resolution photographs of the Martian surface taken by the Emirates Exploration Imager (EXI) orbiter were used); It is one of Hope’s most important tools.

According to the statement made by NYUAD, the purpose of the map is also to help researchers make decisions. Which areas are most suitable for human settlement according to the climate, resources and geography of the location?.

“If you look at the history of Mars, you will see many probes crashing into each other. A probe crashing is a huge waste of science and resources. But you have to be very careful when sending people. It may seem silly, but maybe in the future it will become very common for people to go to Mars and even live there.” , said Dimitra Atri, head of the Mars exploration group at NYUAD.

Mars’ ‘world map’

It’s important to emphasize that this is not the first team of scientists to develop a map of the red planet, and it likely won’t be the last. For example, in early 2023, a team of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) developed a map consisting of 110,000 photographs taken by instruments of the North American Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

The first ‘atlas’ of the star was drawn by astronomers Wilhelm Beer and Johann von Mädler in the mid-1840s; A few years later astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli developed another geographical representation, detailing the so-called ‘canals’ of Mars. Only around 1960 did NASA scientists begin to receive images and data showing the true characteristics of the celestial body Mars.

“[O mapa da NYUAD foi] Created from newer data than some previous global maps [e fornece uma] Here’s an additional perspective on what Mars looks like. “This perspective could be very useful for researchers looking to observe planetary-scale clouds or dust storm activity,” JMARS project representative Scott Dickenshied said in an email to CNN.

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