Is This the Beginning of Evidence for Extraterrestrial Life on Mars?
On September 15th, NASA reported the discovery of organic matter on Mars using its latest rover, Perseverance. Similar discoveries have been made before, however, there is something more interesting this time around. Organic molecules are made up of a variety of compounds, predominantly carbon, and usually hydrogen and oxygen atoms. These atoms are created by life, however, these molecules can also form without life. This recent discovery certainly isn't damning evidence for the existence of life on Mars– we've found it before. Back in 2013, NASA’s Curiosity rover found evidence of organic matter in rock powder samples in the Jezero crater, along with other similar discoveries. What's new this time is that this discovery from the Wildcat ridge was an area where sediment and salt were deposited into a lake, conditions where life may have previously existed. Even better, NASA reports this to be the largest detection of organic matter so far.
Image of the drill site where the Wildcat ridge sample was extracted.
Further analyses of the samples will have to wait for their return to Earth before more conclusions can be made. In the meantime, this and other samples will be stored onboard Perseverance until they get dropped off at a cache site for later retrieval in a subsequent mission between NASA and the ESA (European Space Agency).
Preview Image from NASA.
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