Hope for ‘life on Mars’ discovery after Nasa rover finds ‘diverse organic matter’ in crater that once held ancient lake
NASA’S Perseverance rover has uncovered organic molecules on the surface of Mars, renewing hope that life once existed on the Red Planet.
Scientists have found fresh clues that suggest life could have once existed on Mars.
The findings, recently presented in the journal Nature, came from Perseverance’s exploration of Jezero Crater.
Jezero comprises a 28-mile-wide impact basin located north of Mars’ equator.
While in the crater, Perseverance gathered rock samples – some of which contained signatures of organic molecules.
Also known as biosignatures, organic molecules are chemical compounds normally found in living systems.
These can consist of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, among others.
“They are an exciting clue for astrobiologists since they are often thought of as building blocks of life,” Joseph Razzell Hollis, a postdoctoral fellow at London’s Natural History Museum and an author of the paper, told Newsweek.
Still, the study researchers – who hail from the California Institute of Technology – noted that the existence of biosignatures alone does not always indicate life.
“Importantly, [organic molecules] can be created by processes not related to life as we know it, and so organic molecules are not evidence of life on their own without sufficient extra evidence that cannot be explained by nonbiological—or abiotic—processes,” Razzell Hollis said.
For example, the organic molecule methane can be released by many non-biological sources.
This includes the eruption of volcanos, hydrothermal vents, and comet or asteroid impacts.
Despite this, Razzell Hollis noted that the discovery of the compounds is still exciting “because they highlight the variety of organics that may have survived on Mars even after billions of years of degradation.”
This is not the first time Perseverance has detected organic compounds.
Just last year, the rover detected signs of biosignatures around the Wildcat Ridge using its SHERLOC (or Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) system.
More to follow…For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at Sun Online.The-sun.com is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSunUS and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheUSSun.