No , NASA has n’t unwrap life on Mars yet — but a raw result gain it seem like maybe , at some percentage point in the major planet ’s history , the conditions were ripe for some extraterrestrial organism . Maybe .
The scientists behind experiments deport by the Curiosity rover are today reporting two solution that make the Red Planet ’s story even more interesting . One group found carbon - containing organic issue in 3.5 - billion - yr - old John Rock . Another noticed the methane levels around Curiosity deviate by the time of year . blend , these result present tantalizing hints of a potentially inhabitable Martian past times .
From everything we can tell of the interpersonal chemistry and the mineral deposited in the Gale crater where Curiosity is stationed , “ we consider it was a inhabitable environment , ” Jennifer Eigenbrode from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center recite Gizmodo . “ It had the power to support life — but does n’t signify life were there . ”
NASA ’s Curiosity scouter has wandered around Mars ’ Gale crater , a presumed ancient lakebed , since 2012 . Part of its duties let in sampling the soil and the atmosphere for interesting molecules , like those that may reveal a history of life or habitability .
The most late studies , bothpublishedin Science , shed light on that history . The rover ’s Sample Analysis at Mars ( SAM ) instrument cooked some of the Martian dirt and unlocked some long - hidden carbon - containing molecule , some with sulphur and others with relatively complex structure . “ Perhaps they were from lifetime , or maybe there was just an extra nutrient here for spirit , ” Eigenbrode sound out . Organic molecules belt down upfrequently in space , but it ’s neat that Mars had life story ’s edifice pulley-block during a sentence when many think it was more habitable .
As for the methane , Curiosity ’s Tunable Laser Spectrometer measured the methane level in its surrounding ambiance over five year . The levels average at 0.41 parts per billion by volume , but rove from 0.24 to 0.65 depending on the time of year . Here on Earth , we associate methane with life , but it ’s a secret what could be causing it on Mars . Perhaps it ’s some geological process . “ It probably indicates more fighting water in the subsurface than we understood , ” scientist Kirsten Siebach , Martian geologist at Rice University not involved with the studies , assure Gizmodo .
On Earth , we have a process by which underwater volcanoes interact with rock , producing methane that feed bacterium . Maybe there are subsurface Martian bacteria eat that methane , Tanya Harrison , theater director of inquiry for Arizona State University ’s Space Technology and Science ( “ NewSpace ” ) Initiative , told Gizmodo . But for now , there ’s no grounds for any such bacteria .
The methane is cool , whether it ’s linked to life or not . “ We thought Mars was dead internally , ” Harrison say . “ Now we have data to support that there ’s a seasonal cycle , suggest the methane is being generated by something . ”
All of the outside sources I mouth with suppose it ’s important to be sceptical about claims of life , extinct or otherwise , on the Red Planet . After all , these are just constituent molecules on their own , so we ’re still in the stage of interpersonal chemistry , rather than biology . Plus , scientist do n’t roll in the hay what the original molecules were before Curiosity heated the careen to take the measuring , Utrecht University scientist Inge Loes ten Kate , who was not involved with the research , told Gizmodo .
There ’s so much left to instruct about Mars . TheInsightandExoMarsmissions will instruct scientist more about the major planet ’s geology and methane . Mars2020will drop Light Within on the organic molecules — and ready a sampling that some future mission could bring back to Earth . Mars does n’t recycle its rock the manner that Earth does — peradventure its ancient dust can teach us a affair or two about our own major planet ’s history , said Siebach .
I postulate everyone I verbalise with if they thought there was life on Mars , and the consensus was perchance , possibly not . “ If you research both of those paths forward , it ’s astounding , ” Eigenbrode said . “ It ’s fascinating what they mean for understanding life in our universe . ”
[ Science , Science ]
curiosity roverGeologyMarsScienceSpace
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