First detection of hydrogen chloride gas on Mars

Hydrogen chloride gas has been detected in Mars’s atmosphere for the first time by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter of the European Space Agency (Esa) and the Russian space corporation Roscosmos. ‘We’ve discovered hydrogen chloride for the first time on Mars. This is the first detection of a halogen gas in the atmosphere of Mars, and represents a new chemical cycle to understand,’ said Kevin Olsen from the University of Oxford, one of the lead scientists on the project.