NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover has detected an increase in methane that may hint a biological source, BBC reported.
NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover has measured a huge increase of methane that may come from a biological source. Member of the Curiosity rover Science team, Ann Arbor shared the details about the new discovery.
"This temporary increase in methane -- sharply up and then back down -- tells us there must be some relatively localized source. There are many possible sources, biological or non-biological, such as interaction of water and rock," Arbor revealed.
For 20 months, researchers used the Curiosity rover's onboard laboratory called Sample Analysis at Mars to detect methane in the atmosphere. In late 2013 and early 2014, the measurements totaled to seven parts per billion for two months. Before and after the said timeframe, methane detection was only at one-tenth, NASA reported.
The rover also identified powdered organic chemicals in Mars from a rock named Cumberland. The chemical sources are maybe from Mars or from meteorites outside the planet, according to The Christian Science Monitor.
These organic molecules composed of carbon and hydrogen usually comes from a life source. There is also a possibility that it came from a non-living organism.
The recent findings may not confirm that there is indeed life on Mars but it fuels the idea that the planet is active and can accommodate living things.
Scientist Roger Summons discussed how important the discovery is.
"Organics are important because they can tell us about the chemical pathways by which they were formed and preserved. In turn, this is informative about Earth-Mars differences and whether or not particular environments represented by Gale Crater sedimentary rocks were more or less favorable for accumulation of organic materials. The challenge now is to find other rocks on Mount Sharp that might have different and more extensive inventories of organic compounds."
In addition, scientist John Grotzinger revealed what the Curiosity team are still looking for.
"We will keep working on the puzzles these findings present. Can we learn more about the active chemistry causing such fluctuations in the amount of methane in the atmosphere? Can we choose rock targets where identifiable organics have been preserved?" Grotzinger said.
A report on the recent discovery about Mars has been published on the NASA site.
