NASA Curiosity Rover Has Found Unknown Organic Molecules On Mars

Mars is the gift that keeps on giving, with help from NASA, of course! The space agency's Curiosity Rover on Mars has the abilities to reveal new details about the Red Planet, and now, the rover has stumbled upon unknown organic molecules on Mars.

Such discoveries could help scientists develop the right strategies and tools to look for traces of chemicals that once supported life on the planet.

NASA

Published on Monday in Nature Astronomy, the study explains the discovery of carbon-based compounds on Mars, which may or may not point to the evidence of life. What this discovery does though, is help scientists in curating ways to more effectively carry out space exploration missions. In the process of discovery, the rover did not need to drill any holes.

Curiosity remains curious for Mars

Since landing on Mars in August 2012, Curiosity has been looking for signs of life through organic molecules, especially in the Gale Crater.

It hasn't been an easy ride for Curiosity though. When NASA scientists were gearing up to test the presence of organic molecules at Mount Sharp on Mars, the rover's drill broke apart. To ensure the "wet chemistry" experiment continues, scientists devised a way for the rover to execute tests without drilling holes into rocks.

NASA

Also read: Mars Had Saturn-Like Rings Which Will Appear Again, Thanks To Its Moon Phobos

So, they decided to pick up loose sand particles. This was especially important for the rover had only nine cups of solvent - each capable of performing the experiment only once.

They then heated the samples to find evidence of benzoic acid and ammonia in the loose samples in Martian sand. Besides this, the test points to the existence of other molecules including phenol, phosphoric, and other molecules that contain nitrogen, among other unidentified molecules.

Reuters

Also read: Hear The Sounds Of Mars, As Recorded By NASA's Perseverance Rover

PS: Curiosity's drill is now repaired which means only one thing.... more discoveries on the Red Planet.

Are you excited to see what Curiosity discovers next on our neighbour Mars? Tell us in the comments below. For all-things-space-exploration and the latest in sci-tech, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

Citation

Millan, M. (2021, November 1). Organic molecules revealed in Mars Bagnold. . . Nature Astronomy.

Sankaran, V. (2021, November 5). Nasa Curiosity rover has found previously undetected organic molecules on Mars. The Independent.