NASA’s Curiosity rover, which has been moving on the surface of Mars, has now spent nearly 12 years solving the mystery of life on the Red Planet.
At the moment, the rover has been digging up samples in a Martian crater and trying to find anything related to life on Mars and beyond.
Curiosity rover discovers organic matterThe rover, in a recent discovery, found organic matter which contains carbon isotopes and has left the scientists puzzled.
“We show that the organic material found on Mars has been formed through atmospheric photochemical reactions – without life that is.
It still remains to be shown whether or not this organic material resulted in life on the Red Planet,” Professor Johnson said.
The hunt for life on Mars has continued for decades as scientists try to find even the slightest hint of the presence of living creatures.
NASA’s Curiosity rover, which has been moving on the surface of Mars, has now spent nearly 12 years solving the mystery of life on the Red Planet.
At the moment, the rover has been digging up samples in a Martian crater and trying to find anything related to life on Mars and beyond.
Curiosity rover discovers organic matter
The rover, in a recent discovery, found organic matter which contains carbon isotopes and has left the scientists puzzled.
The presence of such materials on Earth hints at the presence of life. However, on Mars, these can be signs of life or just some chemicals reacting.
University of Copenhagen's Department of Chemistry Professor Matthew Johnson said, “Such carbon-based complex molecules are the prerequisite of life, the building blocks of life one might say. So, this is a bit like the old debate about which came first, the chicken or the egg."
However, the experts at the University of Copenhagen and Tokyo Institute of Technology in their collaborative study had a different take on the discovery of organic matter.
According to them, the Martian samples confirmed the theory of atmospheric photolysis on the planet.
“We show that the organic material found on Mars has been formed through atmospheric photochemical reactions – without life that is. This is the ‘egg,’ a prerequisite of life. It still remains to be shown whether or not this organic material resulted in life on the Red Planet,” Professor Johnson said.
As per the study, the rays of the Sun broke down CO2 in the atmosphere of Mars billions of years ago.
The process is known as photodissociation and it leads to the splitting of the carbon dioxide molecules into carbon monoxide and oxygen.
Watch: Gravitas: China space rocket blows up, causes massive fireball After this, the carbon monoxide gets fused with other chemicals which are present in the atmosphere like hydrogen and nitrogen.
Through time, the complex chemical interaction leads to the creation of organic materials which are the building blocks of life.
The new discovery throws light on the planet's ancient atmospheric conditions and also gives valuable insights into the potential of Mars for supporting life.
(With inputs from agencies)
