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NASA Curiosity Rover Finds Unusual Samples on Mars, Could Be Linked to Ancient Life

It looks like NASA’s Curiosity rover is working hard on the Red Planet, constantly searching for signs of ancient microbial life. Recently, scientists analyzed some rock samples collected by the rover from the Martian surface and found that some of them are rich in a type of carbon that is usually associated with life back on Earth.
NASA's Curiosity rover takes selfie on Mars 6 photos
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity takes picture of the Stimson sandstone formation in Gale craterDrill hole made by NASA's Curiosity roverClouds captured by Curiosity rover on MarsNASA Curiosity rover takes selfie in front of Mont Mercou on MarsNASA Curiosity rover takes selfie on Mars
Here, carbon is an important element that is found everywhere: in the air, water, and the ground. And while finding it on Mars definitely opens up multiple possibilities of how it got there, it might not necessarily mean that it comes from the same sources as it does on our planet.

In a new article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, scientists are exploring three hypotheses for the unusual carbon signals detected by the rover. One of them hints at the existence of ancient bacteria on the surface of Mars, which produced methane. The compound would have interacted with UV light and formed bigger molecules that ended up back on the surface of the planet.

The other two explanations are not associated with life. One theory proposes that the carbon signature was caused by UV light interacting with CO2 in the Martian atmosphere, resulting in the formation of new carbon-containing molecules that fell to the surface. The other involves a rare event that took place hundreds of millions of years ago when our Solar System passed through a large cloud that contained the type of carbon discovered.

The Red Planet may have started off with a different mix of carbon isotopes than Earth did, and for now, it’s still too early to conclude if the carbon signatures found by Curiosity are an indication of past microbial life.

To find out if the source of these intriguing findings can be traced to methane-producing microorganisms, the Curiosity rover would have to drive into a methane plume released from the Martian surface.
However, it’s hard to say when that will happen since the team cannot predict the phenomenon.

However, Curiosity’s cousin, the Perseverance rover, could shed some light on the matter. Perseverance touched down on Mars last year in February, and it’s now on a mission to collect samples from the soil and store them inside its belly for a future return mission. Once on Earth, scientists could further analyze carbon signature from the samples and see if it comes from ancient life.
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About the author: Florina Spînu
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Florina taught herself how to drive in a Daewoo Tico (a rebadged Suzuki Alto kei car) but her first "real car" was a VW Golf. When she’s not writing about cars, drones or aircraft, Florina likes to read anything related to space exploration and take pictures in the middle of nature.
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