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Former Asteroid Strikes on Mars Could Have "Produced Essential Ingredients for Life"
According to a new study, if the atmosphere of Mars was once well in hydrogen, the old asteroid impacts could have produced fixed forms of nitrogen, called nitrite and nitrate, which are "essential ingredients of life". When NASA's Curiosity robot discovered nitrate on the Gale crater, scientists did not know where it came from. The study gives a potential answer to this question.
Scientists have been very interested in life in the universe, but a new study suggests that ancient asteroid impacts might have "produced essential ingredients for life" right next door – Mars.
A new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets suggests that if Mars had a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, space-wheezing rocks might have provided fixed forms of nitrogen, called nitrite and nitrate. In 2015, NASA's Curiosity robot found nitrate on Gale Crater and before the study, researchers were not sure where it came from.
The researchers were able to mimic the early Martian atmosphere by introducing mixtures of various levels of hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide into flasks, which were then hit by laser beam pulses infrared to determine the amount of nitrate formed.
NEW EXCEPTIONAL MARS IMAGES SHOW OR OLD RIVERS HAVE LEAKED ON A RED PLANET
"The big surprise was that nitrate yield increased when hydrogen was included in laser shock experiments simulating asteroid impacts," said lead author of the study, Dr. Rafael Navarro-González, in a statement.
Navarro-González added: "This was counterintuitive because hydrogen leads to a low oxygen environment while nitrate formation requires oxygen. However, the presence of hydrogen led to faster cooling of the shock-heated gas, trapping nitric oxide, the precursor of nitrate, at elevated temperatures where its yield was higher. "
As Space.com notes, the Martian atmosphere is only 1% thick, but 4 billion years ago it was noticeably thicker. The old planet had massive lakes and oceans, but they largely evaporated due to the weakened atmosphere.
The prospect of the presence of substantial amounts of hydrogen in the old Martian atmosphere could mean that the planet has already been supported by life.
"Having more hydrogen in the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is interesting for both the history of the climate of Mars and for habitability", said study co-author Jennifer Stern, a global geochemist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Mass. in the statement.
LIFE ON EARTH CAN BE COME FROM A COLLISION WITH AN OLD PLANET OVER 4 BILLION YEARS AGO
"If you have a connection between two things that are good for habitability – a potentially warmer climate with liquid water on the surface and an increase in the production of nitrates, which are necessary for life – it's very exciting, "she continued. "The results of this study suggest that these two things, which are important for life, go together and that one reinforces the presence of the other."
A study conducted in late 2018 suggested that there could be life hidden under the Martian surface in underground salt lakes.
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