Result of NASA press conference: Find traces of life on Mars in the past, and may still be present

Recent evidence suggests that Mars is more likely to have harbored life in the past. And maybe even now.

As previously reported, NASA recently held a press conference to announce an important discovery from the Curiosity autonomous robot on Mars. And according to the announcement, Curiosity has found traces that Mars seems to have lived in ancient times.

It should be understood that this does not mean that Mars now has life, but it is a potential for future human surface exploration of Mars.

Curiosity autonomous robot.

Specifically, Curiosity has found a form of organic molecule that lives 3 billion years ago, inside the sedimentary rock near the surface of the planet. Organic molecules are usually composed of carbon and hydrogen, sometimes with oxygen and nitrogen.

Normally, organic molecules are always related to life, because biological processes often produce such products. However, sometimes some non-biological processes still produce organic molecules. So even though it is praiseworthy, this is not a sure sign that the planet has life.

"With this result, although it is not yet certain, Mars wants us to continue to be patient and seek life here more aggressively" - quoted Thomas Zurbuchen, managing the Mission Directorate Science program at the office. NASA facility.

"I feel confident that the current and future missions on Mars are moving in the right direction. We will be able to discover a lot of amazing things about Red Planet."

Finding traces of organic molecules is a major turning point

Jen Eigenbrode - an expert at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, who is also the research author, said: "Curiosity cannot determine the origin of these organic molecules."

"But whether it is evidence of past life, food, or just organic molecules present without life, this is still a very valuable clue about ancient Mars."

At the present time, the Martian surface is not a suitable place to support life. But there is clear evidence that Mars was once a world filled with water billions of years ago. Curiosity even identifies the lake area inside Gale crater that has enough conditions to promote life development.

"Unfortunately, Mars has been attacked by solar radiation. All organic materials have been destroyed" - Eigenbrode said.

At the present time, the Martian surface is not a suitable place to support life.

Detecting methane gas in the atmosphere

According to the press conference, this study has two reports, in which a record of the change in the density of methane by season within 3 years of Mars (ie 6 years of Earth).

This change is determined by the integrated SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) system on Curiosity.

This is not the first time NASA has found methane on Mars, but all previous times appear on a scale that is difficult to predict. Only this time, they found that methane appeared in the volcanic Gale volcanic densely anticipated: increased sharply in the summer, and decreased dramatically in the winter.

Gale Crater.

"This is the first time we have recorded the rule of methane on Mars, and they require further research to learn more" - Chris Webster of NASA's Jet Engine Laboratory (JPL) said.

"Everything happens because Curiosity works longer than expected. The longer the task is, the easier it is for us to realize the rule."

The process of finding organic materials

Why does methane change? To find out, we must identify it right below the ground. And the Curiosity autonomous robot did this by drilling into the sedimentary rock on the Gale crater.

SAM system of Curiosity.

The mudstone here was formed billions of years ago, accumulating beneath a lake - of course there is no water anymore.

The mudstone samples were then analyzed by the SAM system .

Curiosity used a furnace, heated soil samples at a temperature of 500 degrees Celsius. As a result, there was an amount of organic molecules that escaped - which looked like part of another molecule that was larger than that. Analysis by SAM indicates that carbon density falls to about 10 parts per million, or more.

This ratio is small, but is actually a hundred times larger than the previous carbon evidence on the surface of Mars. Including thiophene, benzene, toluene, and some smaller carbon chains such as propane and butene.

Confidence comes soon

With this discovery, NASA experts are very confident towards the launch of the next self-propelled robot - robot Mars 2020, and the European Aerospace Agency (ESA) robot ExoMars. Both are state-of-the-art devices, and they are able to find even more interesting evidence.

Does Mars have life?

And the most important thing is that they will motivate the scientific community to constantly seek answers to the question that has been bothering us for a long time: Does Mars have life?