Humans have left over 15,000 pounds of trash on Mars over the past 50 years and not a single person has ever set foot on the Red Planet.
Cagri Kilic, a postdoctoral robotics researcher at the University of West Virginia, analyzed the mass of all rovers and orbiters sent to Mars and subtracted the weight of what’s currently in operation, resulting in 15,694 pounds of debris.
The waste includes discarded hardware, inactive spacecraft and those that crashed on the surface – in particular the Soviet Union’s Mars 2 orbiter which made a crash landing in 1971.
Not only are humans already polluting another planet, but scientists fear the debris could contaminate samples collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover which is currently searching for ancient life on Mars.
A scientist calculates that there are 15,694 pounds of trash on Mars. Most of it comes from discarded hardware like this thermal blanket that protected NASA’s perseverance to survive its descent into the hellish atmosphere.
Much waste is unavoidable, as many parts must be discarded in order to protect the craft as it soars through the Red Planet’s hellish atmosphere – including NASA’s Perseverance which endured the seven-minute hell when it landed in February 2021.
The rover, which collects samples on Mars that will be brought back to Earth, captured images of trash during its mission.
In June, the NASA team on Earth spotted a light in the distance in an image sent back by Perseverance, which they then asked the rover to take a look at.
A few weeks later, Perseverance entered the Hogwallow Flats area and acquired a high-resolution 360-degree Mastcam-Z panorama.
The Ingenuity Helicopter took an image of the landing gear in use when it arrived with Perseverance. Pictures is a parachute and the cone-shaped back shell that protected the rover in space
More recently, in June, Perseverance came across a shredded piece of Dacron netting that helped him land safely on Mars.
And due to the Martian wind, the tight net began to unravel and was seen three weeks later as a ball of material tied up in the shape of string.
The image showed that the bright light was the reflection of a thermal blanket.
This was used to protect the car-sized vehicle from the extreme temperatures it experienced while landing.
The blanket is tucked into the corner of several rocks and appears to reflect light.
The rover’s companion, the Ingenuity Helicopter, also captured an image of the landing gear in use when it arrived with Perseverance in 2021.
A parachute and the cone-shaped back shell that protected the rover in space, as well as during its fiery descent to the Martian surface, were seen in incredible detail.
More recently, in June, Perseverance came across a shredded piece of Dacron netting that helped him land safely on Mars.
And due to the Martian wind, the tight net began to unravel and was seen three weeks later as a ball of material tied up in the shape of string.
NASA’s Opportunity is now dead on Mars, but it sent a photo of its heat shield in 2004, along with debris that littered the ground for miles.
There are a total of nine inactive spacecraft sitting on Mars, including Mars 3 lander, Mars 6 lander, Viking 1 lander, Viking 2 lander, Sojourner rover, Schiaparelli lander ‘European Space Agency (pictured), the Phoenix lander, the Spirit rover and the Opportunity rover
Then there are the dead robots on Mars, in particular NASA’s Opportunity which was active from 2004 until mid-2018.
This rover weighs about 347 pounds, the same weight as a hippopotamus, and is now stuck in the dirt of Martin.
However, it left a trail of trash as it passed through the Red Planet.
He sent NASA a photo of his heat shield in 2004, along with debris that littered the ground for miles.
There are a total of nine inactive spacecraft sitting on Mars, including Mars 3 lander, Mars 6 lander, Viking 1 lander, Viking 2 lander, Sojourner rover, Schiaparelli lander ‘European Space Agency, the Phoenix lander, the Spirit rover and the Rover of Opportunity.
According to Kilic, most of the robots are still intact, and space agencies consider them historical monuments rather than discarded trash.
“When you add up the mass of all the spacecraft that have ever been sent to Mars, you get about 22,000 pounds (9979 kilograms),” Kilic wrote in The Conversation.
“Subtract the weight of the craft currently operational on the surface – 6,306 pounds (2,860 kilograms) – and you’re left with 15,694 pounds (7,119 kilograms) of human debris on Mars.”
