Scientists are using data from NASA’s Curiosity rover to measure total organic carbon in Martian rocks for the first time. Organic carbon is a key component in vital molecules. There is evidence that the climate of the red planet was similar to that of Earth billions of years ago, with a denser atmosphere and liquid water flowing into rivers and seas.
Because liquid water is necessary for life as we know it today, scientists believe that Martian life, if it ever existed, could be sustained by key ingredients such as organic carbon, if present in sufficient quantities, such as organic carbon, if present. in sufficient quantities. Organic carbon is carbon attached to a hydrogen atom. It is the basis of organic molecules that are created and used by all known life forms.
However, the presence of organic carbon on Mars will not prove the existence of life there. They can also come from inanimate sources such as meteorites and volcanoes. Organic carbon has been discovered on Mars before. But previous measurements have given information only for certain compounds or have captured only part of the carbon in the rocks.
The new measurement gives the total amount of organic carbon in these rocks.
The rover Curiosity samples 3.5 billion years of muddy rocks in the formation of Yellowknife Bay on Gale Crater, which is the site of an ancient lake on Mars. The mudstone in the crater formed as a very fine sediment in the water, which settled to the bottom of the lake and was buried. Organic carbon was part of this material and was included in the mudstone.
Gale Crater had other conditions conducive to life besides liquid water and organic carbon, such as chemical energy sources, low acidity, and other elements necessary for biology, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. According to scientists who are part of the study, the site “would offer a habitable environment if it ever existed.”
To perform the measurement, Curiosity delivered the sample to the Mars Sample Analysis Tool (SAM), where an oven heated the powder rock to progressively higher temperatures. It uses oxygen and heat to convert organic carbon into carbon dioxide. The amount of carbon dioxide is then measured to obtain the amount of organic carbon in the scale.
The experiment was conducted in 2014, but took years of analysis to understand the data and place the results in the context of other findings of the mission in Gale Crater. As this was a resource-intensive experiment, it was conducted only once in the 10 years on Mars of Curiosity.
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