Humankind has been studying the surface of Mars with surface-to-surface vehicles for more than 50 years, and according to the United Nations, 18 objects have been sent to the Red Planet in 14 missions, a number of which have not yet been completed, and there has been much debris of land origin in decades.
According to a researcher at the University of West Virginia, in mid-August 2022, NASA confirmed that the rover Perseverance had discovered debris from the launch of a Mars launch to the planet, and that scientists were not the first to discover Earth-based objects on a nearby planet; these were used equipment that had been taken out of service or destroyed spacecraft.
In addition, each Mars mission uses a module that protects the station itself — the shell includes thermal insulation, parachute and other soft landing equipment. During the planting itself, fragments of the shell may be found in different locations — for example, thermal insulation in one and parachute in another. The debris may fall to the surface and be broken into smaller fragments, further spread by the Martian wind. The debris has already been found repeatedly by the marshes themselves, as a result of which it has been planted.
Nine spent spacecraft and maroons on the surface of Mars are another source of pollution, the last one that has stopped working on the road to Opportunity, almost intact, and are more historical relics than debris, without causing significant damage to the local environment.
Broken machines and their fragments are another type of Martian debris. At least two probes crashed on landing, four more are missing because contact with them was lost before or immediately after landing.
According to the scientist, the total mass of the Earth ' s machines ever sent to Mars is 9,979 kg, minus the mass of the current surface of the man-made objects, the remaining debris after the work and the disasters weighs 7,119 kg.
The main problem is that debris can jeopardize the success of current and future missions -- scientists do not rule out that debris can contaminate samples; in addition, NASA assessed the risk for Perseverance to be trapped in the wreckage of the landing module, but concluded that it is small; and finally, the "reputation damage" caused by the debris in Mars' early research -- similar "vehs" in research makes the history of the Red Planet less glittering than it could be expected.