Life on Mars?: NASA’s rover has detected organic matter

In February 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed inside Jezero Crater on Mars, an ancient lake basin site with a high potential for habitation, and they have now reported the discovery organic molecules on the surface. This discovery could provide scientists with new clues about whether life exists on the red planet. On another occasion, molecules of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur have been discovered in Martian meteorites and in Gale Crater.

According to the British Daily Mail, NASA’s Perseverance rover Organic compounds have been found in Jezero craterAlthough they do not necessarily suggest life, they are molecules associated with both biological and non-biological processes.

The team, led by researchers from the California Institute of Technology, announced their discovery in the journal Nature. The researchers note that there could be a number of Explanations for the origins of organic matter, including interactions between water and rock, deposits of dust or interplanetary meteorites. Biological origins, derived from living organisms, are not excluded: “The presence and distribution of organic matter preserved on Mars may provide key information about the Martian carbon cycle and the potential of the planet to host life throughout its history. Our findings suggest that there may be a diversity of dominant aromatic molecules.” on Mars.”

These potential organic molecules It is found largely in minerals associated with hydrothermal processesindicating that these processes may have played a major role in organic synthesis, transport, or conservation.”

The team said so Samples must be returned to Earth for laboratory analysisto confirm the origin of the particles.

“So far We are unable to identify any specific organic molecules from the dataHowever, upon finding samples that may contain organic compounds, we marked them as very interesting for further study, and Perseverance has stored several samples that we hope will be returned to Earth for further analysis.”.