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NASA's Mars rover finds new organic matter in crater
Mark Hallam with AFP, Reuters
6 hours ago6 hours ago
NASA's Curiosity rover has identified more organic compounds as
scientists investigate any potential ancient life signs on Mars. It was exploring the massive Gale Crater also believed to be a now-dry lake.
https://p.dw.com/p/5CaDa
Curiosity Mars rover on Mars, a reddish, rocky landscape
The probes were sampled here at the 'Mary Anning' location named after a
19th century English palaeontologist in the Glen Torridon region in
2020; Curiosity took a 'selfie' to mark the occasionImage: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/REUTERS
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has identified seven organic compounds in
rock near the planet's equator, five of which had not previously been
found on Mars.
Researchers publishing in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday
said the experiment also hinted at the presence of another organic
compound bearing a structure similar to the precursors to DNA, the
molecule that carries genetic information in living organisms on our
planet.
However the scientists also noted that the organic compounds rCo molecules primarily composed of carbon atoms bonded to other elements that form
the structural basis of all life on Earth rCo could have formed through nonbiological processes.
Further evidence that Mars may have been a habitable planet billions of
years ago
Like the Earth and other planets in the solar system, Mars is thought to
have formed around 4.5 billion years ago. Early in its history it was
warmer and wetter than the cold, dry place it is today.
Both of NASA's Mars rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance, have identified organic materials on the planet.
The Curiosity rover had been exploring the vast Gale Crater, thought
both to be caused by an impact from a meterorite and to be a now-dry
lake. The abundance of clay present in the Glen Torridon area of the
crater suggests water was once present there. The meteorite could have
brought organic matter to the planet and the water could have provided suitable conditions for it to develop.
An image of th4e Ubajara sampling site on Mars, taken by NASA's
Curiosity rover. April 10, 2025.An image of th4e Ubajara sampling site
on Mars, taken by NASA's Curiosity rover. April 10, 2025.
Curiosity's search focused on an area thought to have once contained
water, fundamental to the formation of carbon-based life as we know
itImage: NASA
"We cannot yet say that Mars ever harbored life, but our findings
further support the evidence that Mars was a habitable world around the
time that life of Earth originated," said Amy Williams, an
astrobiologist and planetary scientist at the University of Florida,
member of the Curiosity scientific team, and lead author of the study.
"To be clear, we have not found evidence for life with this study, but
we're further refining the building-block molecules that were present on Mars," Williams said.
Building blocks of life preserved in rocks for billions of years
Researchers estimated that the rock samples analyzed dated to at least
3.5 billion years ago. Curiosity, which landed on Mars in 2012, took the samples in question in 2020.
One molecule identified, benzothiophene, has also been found in
meteorites and asteroids.
"The same stuff that rained down on Mars from meteorites is what rained
down on Earth, and it probably provided the building blocks for life as
we know it," Williams said. "We're seeing the building blocks for life rCo prebiotic chemistry on Mars rCo preserved in these rocks for billions of years."
A reddish, rocky landscape resembling a sandstone formation on MarsA
reddish, rocky landscape resembling a sandstone formation on Mars
In 2022, Curiosity identified high concentrations of carbon 12, another potenital indicator of life long ago, in the Gale CraterImage: NASA/ZUMA/picture alliance
Clay can preserve such organic molecules better than other minerals, explaining why the site was chosen as a search point. The Curiosity
rover was dispatched carrying a chemical called TMAH, which can break
apart organic matter to see what it's made up of. Such a test had not
been conducted off Earth before.
Williams said that another molecule identified containing nitrogen "is a precursor to how DNA is eventually built."
Williams said it was ultimately not possible to tell if the organic
matter came from "geologic processes, infall from meteorites, or life,"
but said the findings did suggest that "if complex organic matter from
life were preserved on Mars, we should be able to detect it with current
and upcoming rover instruments."
Was there life on Mars? New clues spark hope
05:33
Portrait photo of Mark Hallam.Portrait photo of Mark Hallam.
Mark Hallam News and current affairs writer and editor with DW since 2006. @marks_hallam
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