Researchers at NASA have observed a strange phenomenon while the agency's helicopter flew in the Martian atmosphere. The rotation of the helicopter's blades has led to the detection of unusual state indicators that scientists are trying to explain. NASA conducted a study to analyze this phenomenon, where the rotation of the blades produced small electric currents in the Martian atmosphere. According to predictions, these currents, if large enough, could cause the surrounding air around the vehicle to glow.
According to the agency, this process occurs naturally on a larger scale on Earth, such as the corona or electric glow that is sometimes seen on planes and ships during known electrical storms. NASA experts observed this phenomenon after magnifying images and noted a glow around the vehicle's blades during flight. Sources indicated that "although the currents generated by the drone in the atmosphere are small, they may be significant enough to cause the air around the blades and other parts of the vehicle to glow in a blue-purple color."
William Farrell from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center mentioned in a research paper published earlier in the journal "Planetary Sciences": "The faint glow would be more visible during evening hours when the background sky is dark. However, the NASA helicopter does not fly during this time, but future drones could detect this glow during evening flights."
The phenomenon of "frictional charge" occurs when friction transfers electrical charge between objects, just as when a person rubs a balloon on their hair or jacket, causing the charged balloon to attract the person's hair, suggesting that the balloon has developed a strong electric field from the photoelectric charging process.
According to NASA's website, the team conducted laboratory measurements and used computer modeling to investigate how electrical charges could accumulate on the rotating blades of the drone. The researchers indicated that this charge accumulation occurs on the blades of ground helicopters, especially in dusty environments. Therefore, the team also used explanations and models for grounding helicopter charging as a basis to understand the situation on Mars.
The researchers found that "as the helicopter's blades rotate, they collide with tiny dust particles in the Martian air, especially when the helicopter is near the surface and blowing dust around it." The team discovered that the discharge begins as an "invisible electronic collapse," where electrons are very small particles with a negative electrical charge that respond to electric fields, attracted to a field generated by a positive charge and repelled by a field generated by a negative charge.
Mars’s atmosphere is very thin, with a pressure about 1% that of Earth's sea level pressure. This very low pressure makes the collapse more likely. The additional space in Martian air gives free electrons a greater path to accelerate before they "collide" with a molecule, allowing them to reach the required speed to release other electrons from carbon dioxide molecules and initiate the electron collapse within a relatively low range.
Researchers acknowledge that these findings are still in the realm of predictions, as nature may impose other opinions that could be revealed in the future. However, "theoretically, there should be some effect to create this glow."
