NASA rover captures ‘mini-lightning' on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover has obtained evidence that the atmosphere of Mars is electrically active, detecting electrical discharges - what one scientist called 'mini-lightning' - often associated with whirlwinds called dust devils that regularly saunter over the planet's surface.

- REUTERS

The six-wheeled rover, exploring Mars since 2021 at a locale called Jezero Crater in its northern hemisphere, captured these electrical discharges in audio and electromagnetic recordings made by its SuperCam remote-sensing instrument, researchers said.

It is the first documentation of electrical activity in the thin Martian atmosphere.

"These discharges represent a major discovery, with direct implications for Martian atmospheric chemistry, climate, habitability and the future of robotic and human exploration," said planetary scientist Baptiste Chide of the Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology in France, lead author of the study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.