The signs of life on Mars were cremated by mistake more than 40 years ago – 17/07/2018

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NASA detected early June the most complex organic matter that was found on the surface of Mars a breakthrough in the study of possible traces of life on the red planet.

The Curiosity Vehicle also found evidence of seasonal variations in methane emissions, indicating that the source of this gas – which is often a signal of biological activity – is coming from the planet and could be stored on ice caps under the surface

A little more than a month later, a study just published in the journal "Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets" that another historical mission of NASA, the Viking probes, could have made the same discovery more than 40 years ago, but their results were accidentally burned by NASA, according to ABC of Spain. " In 1976, indeed, the two Viking landing modules carried out the first field experiments to search for organic matter on the neighboring planet, and even then the scientists were well aware that the planets were constantly receiving a rain of carbon-rich micrometeorites and often more complex organic molecules, so that they were convinced that Mars should be filled with such substances.But the Vikings found nothing, leaving scientists stunned and with a nose span, "says the text.

And adds: "From that moment, Many researchers have tried to find a logical explanation to the enigma of the lost molecules but none "

According to this study, Viking, in his search for organic molecules, took samples from Martian soil to badyze them." 19659009] Is there life on Mars? A discovery puts the debate on the table "src =" https://images.clarin.com/collections/static/lazy_square.svg "data-big =" https://images.clarin.com/2018/06/07 /Bk3jRePgX_290x290__1.jpg "data-small =" https://images.clarin.com/2018/06/07/Bk3jRePgX_110x110__1.jpg "observe =" "data-observer-function =" loadLazyImg "/>
                

Containing perchlorate – a substance that is used to make rocket fuel. When conducting experiments, in which a torch is used, cremated any organic element that could be in them that led to scientists finding nothing in the results underlines the Spanish portal.

The discovery

The samples obtained in June, from rocks aged 3,500 million years, were collected at 5 cm depth at the base of Mount Sharp, inside. of the crater of Gale, estimated to be a lake. ] NASA found evidence that life existed on Mars "src =" https://images.clarin.com/collections/static/lazy_square.svg "data-big =" https://images.clarin.com /2018/06/07/Bk3jRePgX_290x290__1.jpg "data-small =" https://images.clarin.com/2018/06/07/Bk3jRePgX_110x110__1.jpg "observe =" "data-observer-function =" loadLazyImg "/ >
                

"This is a major breakthrough because it means that there are preserved organic materials in some of the most hostile environments of Mars", . from one of two studies published in Science magazine, astrobiologist Jennifer Eigenbrode, of NASA's Goddard Center

"And maybe we can find something better preserved than that, which NASA is preparing for its most important mission: exploring the interior of Mars "src =" https://images.clarin.com/collections/static/lazy_square.svg "data-big =" https : //images.clarin.com/2018/03/21/SyllED-9M_290x290__1.jpg "data-small =" https://images.clarin.com/2018/03/21/SyllED-9M_110x110__1.jpg "observe = "" data-observer-function = "loadLazyImg" />
                

Curiosity, which landed on the red planet in 2012, had already discovered organic matter in 2014, in small quantities.

"This study shows in detail the discovery of complex and diverse organic compounds in sediments.This is not to say that there is life but organic compounds are the cornerstones of Life ", co-author, Sanjeev Gupta, professor of earth sciences at Imperial College London. 19659005] Fragments can come from a meteorite, geological formations equivalent to coal or black shale found on Earth, or a way of life, says Eigenbrode.

This crater is "a good place for life, if it ever existed on Mars", explained.

The badysis carried out by the French SAM laboratory (Sample Analysis at Mars) that Curiosity incorporated revealed "several organic and volatile molecules that resemble those found on Earth: thiophene, methylthiophenes 2 and 3, the methanethiol and dimethyl sulfide, "according to the study.

These findings tend to support the thesis that life potentially existed on Mars, says Inge Loes ten Kate, of the University of Tübingen in Germany

"Curiosity has shown that the crater Gale was habitable about 3,500 million years ago, with conditions comparable to those of the Earth in formation, where life evolved during this period", he added.

With AFP and the ABC of Spain

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