Scientists are using data from NASA’s Curiosity rover to measure the total organic carbon of Martian rocks for the first time. Organic carbon is a key component in the molecules of life. There is evidence that the climate of the red planet was similar to that of Earth billions of years ago, with a thicker atmosphere and liquid water flowing into rivers and seas.
Since liquid water is necessary for life as we know it now, scientists believe that Martian life, if it ever existed, could have been sustained by key ingredients such as organic carbon if it is present in sufficient amounts 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, which 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. These can also come from non-living sources such as meteorites and volcanoes. Organic carbon has also been found on Mars before. But previous measurements have only produced information on specific compounds or have captured only a fraction of the carbon in the rocks.
The new measure gives the total amount of organic carbon in these rocks.
The Curiosity rover drilled 3.5 billion-year-old mud rock samples into the Gale Crater Formation of Yellowknife Bay, which is the site of an ancient lake on Mars. The mud from the crater formed as a very fine sediment in the water that settled to the bottom of the lake and was buried. Organic carbon was part of this material and was incorporated into the mud.
Gale Crater had other favorable conditions for life apart from liquid water and organic carbon, such as chemical energy sources, low acidity, and other essential elements for biologies such as oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. . According to the scientists involved in the research, the location “would have provided a livable environment for life, if it had never been present.”
In order to make the measurement, Curiosity delivered the sample to the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, where an oven heated the powdered rock to progressively higher temperatures. He used oxygen and heat to convert organic carbon into carbon dioxide. The amount of carbon dioxide was then measured to obtain the amount of organic carbon in the rock.
The experiment was conducted in 2014, but it took years of analysis to understand the data and put the results in the context of the other discoveries of the mission at Gale crater. Because it was a resource-consuming experiment, it was only performed once during the 10 years of Curiosity on Mars.