Holy cow, theres Methane on Mars! NASAs Curiosity rover has recently made a surprising find on Mars that could help scientists get one step closer to figuring out if the Red Planet has ever supported life. Curiosity discovered a fleeting spike in the levels of methane at its landing site, Gale Crater. Over the course of four measurements in two months on Mars, average methane levels increased 10 fold before quickly dissipating, but the cause of the fluctuation is still unknown. Researchers are particularly interested in finding methane on alien worlds because living organisms produce an overwhelming amount of the gas on Earth. While finding significant amounts of methane on Mars isnt a sure-fire sign of past or present life — geological processes can also produce the gas — its still a good starting point, according to many scientists. This temporary increase in methane -- sharply up and then back down -- tells us there must be some relatively localized source, said Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Curiosity rover science team. There are many possible sources, biological or non-biological, such as interaction of water and rock. In addition to the Methane, Curiosity also detected different Martian organic chemicals in powder drilled from a rock dubbed Cumberland, the first definitive detection of organics in surface materials of Mars. These Martian organics could either have formed on Mars or been delivered to Mars by meteorites. Organic molecules, which contain carbon and usually hydrogen, are chemical building blocks of life, although they can exist without the presence of life. Curiositys findings from analyzing samples of atmosphere and rock powder do not reveal whether Mars has ever harbored living microbes, but the findings do shed light on a chemically active modern Mars and on favorable conditions for life on ancient Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SAM-GSFC/Univ. of Michigan This image illustrates possible ways methane might be added to Mars atmosphere (sources) and removed from the atmosphere (sinks). NASAs Curiosity Mars rover has detected fluctuations in methane concentration in the atmosphere, implying both types of activity occur on modern Mars.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 11:56:14 +0000
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