Did NASA's probe burn organic molecules on Mars 40 years ago?

NASA's Phoenix lander found perchlorate, a type of salt used for propellants and for making fireworks, on March 2008. (Reuters)

This may seem like a a little weird, but a NASA probe on the surface of Mars more than 40 years ago, according to a report by New Scientist. The US space agency announced in June that its robot explorer Curiosity had discovered organic molecules in rocks formed three billion years ago – a finding that could indicate that there was some life on the red planet at this time

. The Viking landers led the first experiments in the search for organic matter on the red planet

"Because carbon-rich meteorites weigh so heavily on the red planet, scientists have suspected for decades that organic matter exists on Mars. The researchers were stunned in 1976 when NASA sent two Viking landers on Mars to search for organic compounds for the first time and found absolutely no, "the report said on Wednesday. According to Chris McKay, global scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center,

NASA's Phoenix lander discovered perchlorate, a type of salt primarily used for propellants and for the manufacture of propellants. fireworks, on Mars in 2008.

"The discovery of perchlorate has revived the beliefs of scientists that Viking landers could have found organic matter on Mars," the report notes. Among the organic molecules recently discovered by Curiosity are chlorobenzene. "This molecule is created when carbon molecules burn with perchlorate, so scientists suspect that it could have been created when soil samples were burned during Viking exploration," the report said. 19659003] in a separate study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. : Planets, a team from the LATMOS research center in France has revisited the data of the Viking lander. They found that Viking undercarriages also detected chlorobenzene.

According to Melissa Guzman, a scientist at the LATMOS research center, while the results are interesting, the chlorobenzene could come from the material carried by the probe from Earth. But some researchers are convinced.

"This document really seals the agreement," said Daniel Glavin, an astrobiologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, who was not involved in the study. The NASA Viking landers were sent to Mars to look for any signs of life and to study the physical and magnetic properties of the soil and the atmosphere.

The probes continued their mission until the end of the war. last transmission to Earth on November 11, 1982 (Viking 1) and April 11, 1980 (Viking 2).