There’s no question that humanity’s race to the Red Planet is on with players like NASA, Elon Musk, and the European Space Agency leading the way. But, have you ever stopped to consider just why Mars is red in the first place?
Our neighboring planet’s red color has everything to do with the fact that it’s rocks are rusting away. The soil and rocks on mars are incredibly rich in iron-oxide, or common rust.
Researchers believe that when the planets were formed, due to Mars’ weaker gravity when compared to earth, much of the elemental iron settled near the surface of the planet – compared to where here on Earth much of our iron moved under the surface.
So, we have a pretty good idea why there’s so much iron on the surface of Mars, but why did it rust? After all, there’s little oxygen on the planet. It turns out that scientists aren’t really sure.
The main theories are that ancient rainstorms rusted the iron or that a breakdown of quartz crystals during dust storms freed up oxygen molecules which then rusted the iron.
So, Mars is red because it’s covered in rust, but researchers still aren’t sure just how it got rusty in the first place.
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