NASA found Ancient 'Building Blocks for Life' on Mars

They haven’t found aliens but are a little further along in search for life on Mars, thanks to the two recent discoveries from the Curiosity Rover.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has found organic molecules in three billion-year-old sedimentary rocks just beneath the martian surface that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life. 

Organic molecules contain carbon and hydrogen, and also may include oxygen, nitrogen and other elements. The rover also detected seasonal variations in methane levels in the atmosphere over 3 Mars years (nearly 6 Earth years).

Water-rock chemistry might have generated the methane, but scientists cannot rule out the possibility of biological origins. Methane previously had been detected in Mars' atmosphere in large, unpredictable plumes.

This new result shows that low levels of methane within Gale Crater repeatedly peak in the warm, summer months, and then drop in the cooler, winter months.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

These two discoveries increase the chances that the record of habitability and potential life has been preserved on the Red planet despite extremely harsh conditions on the surface.

"Are there signs of life on Mars? we don't know, but these results tell us we are on right track", said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, at NASA Headquarters.

Although the surface of Mars is inhospitable today, there is clear evidence that in the distant past, the Martian climate allowed liquid water, an essential ingredient for life as we know it – to pool at the surface. 

Data from Curiosity reveal that billions of years ago, a water lake inside Gale Crater held all the ingredients necessary for life, including chemical building blocks and energy sources. 

"The Martian surface is exposed to radiation from space. Both radiation and harsh chemicals break down organic matter," said Jen Eigenbrode of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and lead author of one of the studies.

"Finding ancient organic molecules in the top five centimeters of rock that was deposited when Mars may have been habitable, bodes well for us to learn the story of organic molecules on Mars with future missions that will drill deeper,” she added.

Discovering methane in the atmosphere and ancient carbon preserved on the surface gives scientists confidence that NASA's Mars 2020 rover and ESA’s ExoMars rover will find even more organics, both on the surface and in the shallow subsurface. 

"With these new findings, Mars is telling us to stay the course and keep searching for evidence of life," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, in Washington. "I’m confident that our ongoing and planned missions will unlock even more breathtaking discoveries on the Red Planet."

Source: NASA