Methane Discovered on Mars December 17, 2014 For further information about the Mars Society, visit our website at marssociety.org NASA scientists announced yesterday that the rover Curiosity has detected methane on Mars. The announcement, which was discussed at some length in the New York Times nytimes/2014/12/17/science/a-new-clue-in-the-search-for-life-on-mars.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1 December 16, and detailed in a peer-reviewed article in Science sciencemag.org/content/early/2014/12/15/science.1261713.abstract is of extraordinary importance. The origin of the methane discovered by Curiosity is unknown. However, because of the high level of ambient ultraviolet radiation, methane cannot last in the Martian atmosphere for more than a few decades. Therefore, any methane found on Mars today had to be made recently, and not in the distant past. Furthermore, there are only two ways that methane could be created on today’s Mars: via biogenic or hydrothermal processes. Therefore, either Curiosity has actually found life on Mars, of it has provided proof of a subsurface environment that could readily support life. In addition, another striking aspect of the Curiosity discovery is that the concentration of methane detected varies sharply over time. That can only be the case if the source of the methane is locally concentrated, as a globally spread source could not cause such sharp variations. Thus there may be a patch of ground relatively close to Curiosity which is the source of the emissions, and thus a prime target to drill to seek subsurface life. Similar biologically suspect spots may well exist elsewhere. We need to locate such spots, and then send human explorers to drill and find out what lies beneath. Is life unique to Earth or a general phenomenon in the universe? Is life as we know it on Earth the pattern for all life everywhere, or are we just one example drawn from a much vaster array of possibilities? These are questions that thinking men and women have pondered for thousands of years. Curiosity has now revealed to us where the answers may finally be found. For the past four decades, NASA’s human spaceflight program has been adrift, seeking to find a purpose for itself without success. That purpose has now found it. Mars. If we wish to know, we must go. For further information about the Mars Society visit our website at marssociety.org
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 21:49:18 +0000
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