NASA's InSight mission to Mars helped scientists map out Mars' internal structure, including the size and composition of its core, and provided general hints about its tumultuous formation.
Without a functional protective magnetic field around itself, a terrestrial planet such as Mars would be extremely vulnerable to harsh solar winds and lose all the water on its surface, making it incapable of sustaining life.
It still doesn’t have a magnetic field, the theory was always that it used to have one which then shut down as the core solidified. The only difference is now we know it not 100% solid yet.
I feel like they’re hinting at the possibility that more heat can possibly radiate out from the core in the future and generate a mantle along with its own magnetic field. I can’t wait to read about what else they discover with this data.
Isn’t this now a discredited theory?
It still doesn’t have a magnetic field, the theory was always that it used to have one which then shut down as the core solidified. The only difference is now we know it not 100% solid yet.
I feel like they’re hinting at the possibility that more heat can possibly radiate out from the core in the future and generate a mantle along with its own magnetic field. I can’t wait to read about what else they discover with this data.
So what you’re saying… checks notes
…Is that we need to drill a hole to the center of Mars and detonate a nuke to heat that baby right back up?