Waste such as debris from hardware, inactive robots, or spacecraft crashes on Mars could negatively impact future missions.
Cagri Kilic, a postdoctoral researcher at West Virginia University, estimates that humans have generated 7,119 kg of waste on Mars over the past 50 years, Newsweek reported on September 21. Kilic calculated the total mass of all vehicles ever sent to Mars (9,979 kg) and subtracted the weight of the operational vehicles currently on the planet’s surface (2,860 kg).
The protective shell of the Perseverance rover (NASA) shattered after landing on Mars. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Humans have sent 18 artificial objects to Mars across 14 missions, according to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). The first mission to land an object on Mars occurred in 1971 when the Soviet Union’s Mars 2 lander crashed into the Red Planet and was damaged.
Since then, many other vehicles have landed on Mars, both successfully and unsuccessfully. All of them have left debris scattered across the planet. In mid-August of this year, NASA’s Perseverance rover encountered discarded materials during its landing process.
The debris comes from three sources: discarded hardware, inactive vehicles, and vehicles that crashed on Mars. “It is very difficult to determine the average amount of debris from each vehicle because each has its unique characteristics. Therefore, the total mass will vary. However, it can be said that spacecraft that crash onto the surface will create more debris,” Kilic noted.
Landing vehicles on Mars will shed some module fragments during the descent. Fragments of heat shields and parachutes break apart and can be blown far away by Martian winds. Meanwhile, crashed vehicles may burn up or hit the ground at extremely high speeds, causing debris to scatter in multiple directions. Additionally, several inactive robots are present on the Martian surface due to power depletion or malfunction, such as NASA’s Opportunity and Spirit rovers.
Debris scattered across the Martian surface could affect future missions. Some experts even worry that waste could contaminate or interfere with samples collected by the rover. “Since the Perseverance rover is collecting samples to bring back to Earth, NASA’s imaging specialists are examining terrain images to detect debris from discarded hardware,” Kilic explained.
“NASA’s sample experts are also monitoring sources that pose a contamination risk to ensure the integrity of the collected samples. Martian winds can carry some debris, but modern imaging technology will help identify them. I believe that the likelihood of debris contaminating or interfering with the rover is low. However, it remains a risk,” he concluded.
