Samples from the Curiosity rover reveal the same amount of organic carbon as some spots here on Earth.
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its right Mast Camera to take the telephoto images combined into this panorama of geological diversity.Early this year, the Curiosity rover revealed organic carbon, a key ingredient of life as we know it, on Mars. “We’re finding things on Mars that are tantalizingly interesting, but we would really need more evidence to say we’ve identified life,” said Paul Mahaffy, who served as the principal investigator for.
The samples Curiosity’s instruments analyzed, gathered from the Gale crater at the site of an ancient lake,in the same density that it exists in barren places on Earth, such as the Atacama Desert. Knowing how much of the stuff there is on Mars gives planetary scientists a better idea of just how likely it was that life was ever on the planet.
Carbon bound to a hydrogen atom is dubbed organic carbon, the compound that forms the basis of life—at least, as we define it here at home. But even though we know that, finding organic carbon doesn’t necessarily prove that the planet once had natives. Meteorites and volcanoes can also create deposits of the substance, for example.
The location where Curiosity dug up its samples does have other indicators that it could have once hosted life, points out Jennifer Stern, the lead author on thewhere the most recent findings were published, in a NASA blog post. “Basically, this location would have offered a habitable environment for life, if it ever was present,” she states. Samples of mudstone from the area include nitrogen and oxygen, for instance, and have low levels of acidity.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
Curiosity Mars rover reveals evidence of changing climates on red planetNASA's Curiosity Mars rover found evidence of different climates on the planet occurring several billion years ago as it transitions to a mineral region.
Les mer »
China's Mars probe has photographed the entire red planetAfter more than a year on the surface of Mars, China's Tianwen-1 probe has taken images covering the entire red planet, the country's space agency announced Wednesday.
Les mer »
Ancient alien life is likely buried more than six feet under Mars’ surfaceA new NASA laboratory experiment shows that rovers may have to dig roughly 6.6 feet or more under the surface of Mars to find signs of ancient life.
Les mer »
Chinese spacecraft captures images of entire planet of MarsAn uncrewed Chinese spacecraft acquires imagery data covering all of Mars, including visuals of its south pole, after circling the planet more than 1,300 times, state media reports
Les mer »
NASA wants your help to solve an enduring Mars mystery | Digital TrendsIf you have some spare time on your hands, then how about helping NASA scientists solve one of Mars' enduring mysteries?
Les mer »
Chinese spacecraft acquires images of entire planet of MarsAn uncrewed Chinese spacecraft has acquired imagery data covering all of Mars, including visuals of its south pole, after circling the planet more than 1,300 times since early last year, state media reported on Wednesday.
Les mer »