Post Content Built by JPL, Curiosity rover has been moving around the Gale crater and Mount Sharp on Mars since in 2012. (Photo: NASA)
The Curiosity rover, part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, has found a mix of organic molegules on Mars. This includes chemicals that are considered to be the “building blocks of life”.
Of the 21 carbon-containing molecules in the sample, seven have been detected for the first time on Mars, NASA said.
The detection has renewed the confirmation that the red planet once use to have the right chemistry to support life.
However, the scientists have no way to be sure whether these molecules were produced through biologic or geologic process.
The molecules also have now been added to a list of other compounds known to be preserved in rocks on Mars for billions of years even after being exposed to a radiation that can break these molecules down over time.
Among the newly found molecules is a ring o carbon atoms including nytrogen. A molecule with such a structure is considered a predecessor of DNA and RNA — that are key to genetic information.
What scientists are saying
“That detection is pretty profound because these structures can be chemical precursors to more complex nitrogen-bearing molecules,” Prof Amy Williamsm who led the experiment said. “Nitrogen heterorcycles have never been found before on the Martian surface or confirmed in Martian meteorites.”
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As quoted by The Guardian, Prof Williams, an astrogeologist at the University of Florida and a Curiosity mission scientist, also added: “We think we’re looking at organic matter that’s been preserved on Mars for 3.5bn years… Is it life? We can’t tell, based on this information.”
“There are several steps between what we found and DNA,” The Guardian quoted Williams as saying. “It is definitely a building block to how DNA is made now. But it is truly just the bricks, not the house. You can generate these molecules geologically.”
According to studies and findings so far, Mars has harsh surface conditions, with abdurdly low templeratures that drop below -100C at night and no atmosphere. Hence, Mars gets blasted by powerful soalr radiation. However, evidences show liquid water flowed on its surface and an atmosphere shielded the planet from the scorching radiation, in the distant past
About Curiosity
Built by JPL, Curiosity rover has been moving around the Gale crater and Mount Sharp on Mars since in 2012.
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JPL, managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.
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