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In early June, NASA announced the discovery of organic molecules on the surface of Mars, a step that could help find life on the red planet. However, this same finding may have already been made 40 years ago by Viking probes, according to a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
Viking 1 was released on August 20, 1975 and Viking 2 on September 9 of this year. The first experiments on Mars began in 1976, with the goal of finding organic matter on the planet. Scientists knew that Mars had rains of carbon-rich micrometeorites as well as more complex organic molecules, being convinced that the planet should have many of these substances.
But the results were not as expected and several researchers began to try to understand the mystery. . After several inconclusive results, in 2008, the Phoenix landing module found a salt known as perchlorate in the North Pole of Mars. This substance is used to make fuel for rockets and becomes explosive when subjected to high temperatures.
The conclusion is that when badyzing soil samples collected by the Viking, with the aid of a torch, the perchlorate finally burned, destroying all the evidence that there was life on the planet. By pure accident, the first proof was thus destroyed.
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