Curiosity (NASA’s rover launched in 2011 and that landed on the Martian surface on August 6, 2012) keeps delivering.
Today, NASA announced that the rover “has found new evidence preserved in rocks on Mars that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life, as well as new evidence in the Martian atmosphere that relates to the search for current life on the Red Planet. While not necessarily evidence of life itself, these findings are a good sign for future missions exploring the planet’s surface and subsurface.”
There are many scientists that believe Mars hosted life long ago, and these new findings seem to hint positively to that. However, “organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxyg
en, nitrogen and other elements. While commonly associated with life, organic molecules also can be created by non-biological processes and are not necessarily indicators of life.” (Read the press release here).
This is not the first time a similar claim has been voiced, and this article of Space.com does a good job in summarising the story. “The serious hunt for organics on Mars has a long and complicated history. It starts with NASA’s twin Viking landers, which touched down on different parts of the Red Planet in 1976 to search for signs of life. The Vikings’ science payload included an instrument called a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GCMS), which heated Martian soil and studied the molecules that boiled off.”
To follow Curiosity and its progress, bookmark the rover’s official NASA page.
And for a first-hand look, enjoy this video:
MARS! Thank you.
Lovely, isn’t it? 🙂
The thrill of actually *seeing* the surface of another planet never pales, no matter how many times we see that barren landscape, and this was no exception. Thank you so much for sharing!
Yes, I agree. It made me literally dreaming…!:)