Did life exist on ancient Mars? This is what a recent study published in Nature Geoscience hopes to address as a team of international researchers investigated whether organic compounds were produced in the ancient Martian atmosphere based on sediment samples obtained by NASA’s Curiosity rover. This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand whether the conditions on ancient Mars, or billions of years ago, were suitable for life.
For the study, the researchers conducted a series of laboratory experiments and theoretical calculations to ascertain the amount of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the early atmosphere of Mars billions of years ago, along with how much surface water could have been present during this time period. In the end, the team determined that a mechanism known as photolysis (where photons break down organic material) is responsible for the identification of organic matter within the Curiosity rover samples.
“This shows that carbon monoxide is the starting point for the synthesis of organic molecules in these kinds of atmospheres. So, we have an important conclusion about the origin of life’s building blocks. Although so far only on Mars,” said Dr. Matthew Johnson, who is a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen and a co-author on the study.
This finding comes as NASA’s two rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance, continue to explore the surface of Mars searching for signs of ancient life that could have existed billions of years ago. Additionally, NASA plans to return samples of Mars regolith sometime next decade with its Mars Sample Return mission, which is currently in development.
What new discoveries about ancient life on Mars will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Nature Geoscience, University of Copenhagen
Featured Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
