What event could happened on Mars that turn the once Wet planet into the current State ?

Question

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080716-mars-water.html

There is a high chance that Life could have existed there before.

Since earth have asteroid impact millions of years ago that is believed to have wipe out the dinosaurs. Could an asteroid hit mars that eventually destroyed the wet planet millions years ago ?

All the pictures taken from Hubble space telescope are just a snapshot of the past. As the distant between stars are in terms of many light years.

There are too much to learn regarding our universe. However theres one thing I am sure of .... we are not alone. Its just a matter of time before we contact with a new intelligent life form. Or maybe Human already destroyed Earth before that could happened......

Answer 1

Earth has a liquid core that generates a strong magnetic field. Without the magnetic field, the solar wind would strip away our atmoshpere.

Mars is much smaller than the earth, so the planet's core likely cooled faster. Once the core cooled the magnetic field weakened and was no longer able to protect the martian atmosphere, so today very little remains. Life may still exist there, but in limited areas such as in the upper layers of soil.

Answer 2

well i think there was life on mars at the beginning similar to earth. but since it was too far away from the sun, mars froze and became unsuitable for life.

Answer 3

Mars Warming. There version of global warming.

Answer 4

Good question. Right now the most leading theory is that Mars once had an atmosphere just like Earth. It was just that some time ago, a large object probably destroyed it and therefore, the red planet couldn't house life. Another theory is that Mars's core failed to function any longer, and so its magnetic field wore off. With its magnetic field gone, the planet was vulnerable to the intense solar winds produced by the sun. This is what probably killed the early life forms Mars once contained.

Answer 5

Ask that windbag AlGore and he'll tell you "carbon dioxide" or some c**p.  I think if it had an atmosphere like Earth's that it was destroyed by some event with the Sun.  The Sun is what causes ALL of the planets atmospheres to do what they do.

Answer 6

First of all, the moons of Mars are tiny and insignificant. They are captured asteroids from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The gravity on Mars is so weak that over time, the lighter elements of the atmosphere have leaked away. Even if the atmosphere was once denser and wetter, without volcanism to keep venting new gases into the atmosphere, it is only natural that the atmosphere would gradually seep away.

An asteroid impact would not have affected the atmosphere like that, even though if one happened it could have harmed early life on Mars.

But don't worry, even if there is no life on Mars, there is life out there somewhere, just waiting to be found.

Answer 7

w---- man

Answer 8

One fact that doesn't help is that Mars is too far away from the Sun to be ideal for life, in fact if the Earth were slightly (in astronomical terms) closer or farther away life would not be possible here.