<p> Mars is losing water more quickly than what theory, as well as past observations, would suggest, according to a study that used data from the ExoMars Mission.</p>.<p>The gradual disappearance of water (H2O) occurs in the upper atmosphere of the Red Planet, researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said.</p>.<p>Sunlight and chemistry disassociate water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms that the weak gravity of Mars cannot prevent from escaping into space, they said.</p>.<p>The study, published in the journal Science, revealed that water vapour is accumulating in large quantities and unexpected proportions at an altitude of over 80 kilometres in the Martian atmosphere.</p>.<p>Measurements showed that large atmospheric pockets are even in a state of supersaturation, with the atmosphere containing 10 to 100 times more water vapour than its temperature should theoretically allow, according to the study.</p>.<p>With the observed supersaturation rates, the capacity of water to escape would greatly increase during certain seasons, the researchers said.</p>.<p>These results were obtained thanks to the Trace Gas Orbiter probe from the ExoMars mission, financed by the European Space Agency and the Russian space agency Roscosmos.</p>
<p> Mars is losing water more quickly than what theory, as well as past observations, would suggest, according to a study that used data from the ExoMars Mission.</p>.<p>The gradual disappearance of water (H2O) occurs in the upper atmosphere of the Red Planet, researchers from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said.</p>.<p>Sunlight and chemistry disassociate water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms that the weak gravity of Mars cannot prevent from escaping into space, they said.</p>.<p>The study, published in the journal Science, revealed that water vapour is accumulating in large quantities and unexpected proportions at an altitude of over 80 kilometres in the Martian atmosphere.</p>.<p>Measurements showed that large atmospheric pockets are even in a state of supersaturation, with the atmosphere containing 10 to 100 times more water vapour than its temperature should theoretically allow, according to the study.</p>.<p>With the observed supersaturation rates, the capacity of water to escape would greatly increase during certain seasons, the researchers said.</p>.<p>These results were obtained thanks to the Trace Gas Orbiter probe from the ExoMars mission, financed by the European Space Agency and the Russian space agency Roscosmos.</p>