A local increase in methane concentrations has been detected by the Curiosity rover, a discovery that may indicate the existence of living microorganisms in the region. The measurements came from Gale Crater on the Red Planet, which the robot examined for two months. Thus, the resulting data show that average methane levels showed a local increase of 1000%.
The discovery can prove to be historic, as methane production is considered to be one of the basic characteristics of biological activity, at least based on life forms existing on Earth. Thus, it is likely to mean that in the past, or even today, the Red Planet "hosted" living beings.
On the other hand, for the moment at least, it can not be excluded that emissions are due to a different cause, such as a geological phenomenon. "It's impossible to come up with safe conclusions from a mere measurement," said Paul Spacefield, one of the authors of the article describing the discovery and researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
"All we can do right now is topricesum up the various possible scenarios. "Even if there really are microbes on Mars that produce methane, that's just speculation at this point," he added.
A hole that opened the Curiosity on a rock on Mars in order to collect a sample.
Η μελέτη δημοσιεύτηκε online χθες στο σάιτ του περιοδικού Science. Εκτός από το παραπάνω εύρημα, σε αυτήν οι επιστήμονες αποκαλύπτουν πως τα ατμοσφαιρικά επίπεδα του μεθανίου στον Κόκκινο πλανήτη είναι περίπου 0,7 μέρη στο billion (ppb). This number is smaller than previous estimates and calculations, but much larger than previous similar measurements by Curiosity.
These measurements were published last year, suggesting that there is no trace of methane in the Martian atmosphere. This time, however, scientists have found a way to gather larger gaseous samples so that new data is more reliable.
Last year, the news that there was no methane on Mars disappointed many researchers, as it seemed to mean that there was no biological activity on the planet. The new one research however, it raises hopes, since it may indicate that the conditions on Mars were not so "inhospitable" for any form of life after all.
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