Topic summary
Martian atmosphere
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Atmosphere of Mars.
History of atmospheric observations
With an enhanced understanding of optical properties of atmospheric gases and advancement in spectrometer technology, scientists started to measure the composition of the Martian atmosphere in the mid-20th century. Lewis David Kaplan and his team detected the signals of water vapor and carbon dioxide in the spectrogram of Mars in 1964, as well as carbon monoxide in 1969. In 1965, the measurements made during Mariner 4's flyby confirmed that the Martian atmosphere is constituted mostly of carbon dioxide, and the surface pressure is about 400 to 700 Pa. After the composition of the Martian atmosphere was known, astrobiological research began on Earth to determine the viability of life on Mars. Containers that simulated environmental conditions on Mars, called "Mars jars", were developed for this purpose.