NASA Rover Finds Active and Ancient Organic Chemistry on Mars

JPL ^ | Dec 16, 2014 | Staff

[Islander7]

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has measured a tenfold spike in methane, an organic chemical, in the atmosphere around it and detected other organic molecules in a rock-powder sample collected by the robotic laboratory's drill.

"This temporary increase in methane -- sharply up and then back down -- tells us there must be some relatively localized source," said Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, a member of the Curiosity rover science team. "There are many possible sources, biological or non-biological, such as interaction of water and rock."

[Islander7]

Curiosity also detected different Martian organic chemicals in powder drilled from a rock dubbed Cumberland, the first definitive detection of organics in surface materials of Mars. These Martian organics could either have formed on Mars or been delivered to Mars by meteorites.

Organic molecules, which contain carbon and usually hydrogen, are chemical building blocks of life, although they can exist without the presence of life. Curiosity's findings from analyzing samples of atmosphere and rock powder do not reveal whether Mars has ever harbored living microbes, but the findings do shed light on a chemically active modern Mars and on favorable conditions for life on ancient Mars.

[Empireoftheatom48]

There’s also methane in Uranus!

[Islander7]

Not so much. Making my contributions to keep the planet from freezing.

[CyberAnt]

God is a LIVING person .. so why wouldn’t we find organic matter on all the planets ..??

Hmmmmm ..?? I’ve always wondered that.

[CivilWarBrewing]

Mars once was Earth! Just part of a dimensional rotation.

[hadaclueonce]

Well heck, that settles it!

Lets spend 10 trillion dollars, punch a million holes in the ozone layer to prove that we can get there.

NASA budget alert ping!

[XEHRpa]

That comment reminds me of the old joke:

Q: How is the starship Enterprise like toilet paper?

A: They both travel to Uranus to wipe out Klingons!

[ronnie raygun]

Sounds like they found pelosi’s relatives

[Regulator]

Cow farts from nearby dairy

Martian milk

[Candor7]

"This temporary increase in methane -- sharply up and then back down -- tells us there must be some relatively localized source,>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A Martian farts?

(Maybe Curiosity is down wind of a baked bean restaurant, or it's equivalent there.)

[Candor7]

"This temporary increase in methane -- sharply up and then back down -- tells us there must be some relatively localized source,>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A Martian farts?

(Maybe Curiosity is down wind of a baked bean restaurant, or it's equivalent there.)

[Riflema]

Let's just see if the MSM demonstrates their complete lack of scientific knowledge by jumping all over the word "organic" here. Heck, let's let them in on the dark secret: Oil is a mix of organic chemicals, maybe that Bakken pipeline seems a little better now that it's carrying organic stiff, eh?

[JimSEA]

Organic molecules contain carbon and usually hydrogen. Often associated with life, they also occur most everywhere there is carbon. Not a proof of anything, they still have to be there if there is, in fact, life. So, what you said times two.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

I’m really torn between hoping they discover some sort of anaerobic life on Mars — which would be SO cool — and hoping they don’t . . . because if life is discovered on Mars, the Green crowd will make dead certain we never, ever set human foot there. :o(

[StormEye]

"Methane cometh from pig $hit."

[BlueNgold]

Doesn’t one of the Viking life detection team scientists claim to this day that his test in ‘76 was actually positive?

[familyop]

Other planets and moons also have methane in their atmospheres. Because methane can only come from living organisms (fossil fuel), we know that there’s been life on all of those orbs!

;-)

[Viking2002]

The graph I saw was showing the methane spike during the daylight hours. The old Viking landers detected the same thing back in the 70’s but the data was overlooked for 25 years.

[no-s]

Oil is a mix of organic chemicals

YESSSSS!!! ORGANIC ENERGY!!!!!!!!

[a fool in paradise]

They love to call oil a “fossil fuel” but methane has been known to exist elsewhere in the galaxy.

It’s isn’t about “the dinosaurs”.