'Building blocks of life' found on Mars

Volcanic areas on Mars may reveal how geological blocks are formed, thereby confirming whether there is life on the Red planet.

In a recent discovery, NASA found organic compounds containing carbon-hydrogen bonds in some rocks they studied at the Red Planet's Jezero crater.

Although this cannot be considered the detection of life on Mars, it can be confirmed that we have found the "building blocks of life", since organic compounds can be produced by both biological and biological processes. academic and abiotic.

This achievement is considered an important milestone for the NASA project, as the team had previously been unable to distinguish where the Perseverance rover landed was a volcano or not.

"We were frustrated, and worried that we would never find out," said Ken Farley, project scientist. "But soon our PIXL instrument got a good look at the abrasive block from the area nicknamed 'Southern Séítah'.

Robot Perseverance is bringing positive signals from Mars

Accordingly, the geological area that the Perseverance robot has moved through since landing in February 2021 is most likely formed by red-hot magma.

The team also claims that the rocks in the crater can interact with water many times through ions, and some of them contain organic molecules.

This is not the first time the space agency has found organic material, said Luther Beegle, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Before that, NASA's Curiousity robot, currently on a mission in the Gale Crater region of Mars - also made a similar discovery.

"When these specimens are returned to Earth, they will be a source of scientific research and discovery for many years," said Luther.

According to scientists' calculations, the texture of "volcanic rock" on Mars will reveal how geological blocks are formed, as well as how water changes. This process can help reconstruct geological periods, especially the period when Mars was flooded - also the period when the Red planet is thought to have existed.