Humans have polluted Mars with over 7,000 kg of garbage

Humans have polluted the planet Mars with over 7,118.6 kilos of waste, claimed Cagri Kilic, a postdoctoral research fellow in robotics at West Virginia University.

Kilic told The Conversation that the total mass of spacecraft sent to Mars would be around 9,979 kilos.

Humanity began to explore the red planet nearly five decades ago. By 2030s, NASA hopes to send an astronaut to Mars for the first time. For now, humans continue to explore it via robots and machines. 

To reach the 7,000kg estimate, the average mass of all rovers and orbiters sent to the planet was calculated. After subtracting the mass of the parts and devices that are still operational, the scientist reached an approximate value.

According to the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, 18 manmade spacecraft have been sent to Mars through 14 different missions by different countries.

NASA recently announced that its Perseverance Mars rover had found some garbage on the Martian surface. Unfortunately, that is not the only debris over there.

Kilic said that the debris had three primary sources: discarded hardware, inactive spacecraft and crashed spacecraft. Fragments of ruined spacecraft add up to the trash.

Two spacecraft have crashed and four others have lost contact leaving behind litter that, Kilic worries, can impact future Mars missions.