NASA's probe could have burned organic molecules on Mars 40 years ago: Report

Among the organic molecules that Curiosity has recently found included chlorobenzene. (Image: NASA)

It may sound a bit odd, but a NASA probe may have accidentally destroyed organic molecules found on the surface of Mars more than 40 years ago, according to a New Scientist report. 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. However, in 1976, the NASA Viking twins conducted the first organic matter research experiments on the red planet

"Because small carbon-rich meteorites weigh so heavily on the red planet, scientists have been suspecting March. "But 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 none at all," the report said on Wednesday. According to Chris McKay, global scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center,

NASA's Phoenix lander found perchlorate, a type of salt primarily used for propellants and for manufacturing. artifice, on Mars in 2008. "The discovery of perchlorate has revived the beliefs of scientists that viking landers could have found organic materials es on Mars, "notes the report. "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 says.

Kepler telescope running out of fuel, to put in hibernation mode

Among the organic molecules that Curiosity recently found included chlorobenzene. In a separate study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, a team from the LATMOS research center in France 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 material carried by the probe from Earth. But some researchers are convinced.

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"This document really seals the case" Daniel Glavin, astrobiologist at the Goddard Space Flight of the NASA Center, which was not involved in the study, was quoted as saying. The NASA Viking Landers have been 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 last transmission to Earth on November 11, 1982 (Viking 1) and April 11, 1980 (Viking 2).

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