NASA is investigating Mars' "abnormal" carbon signature

NASA is investigating Mars' "abnormal" carbon signature, Scientists are not only blasting ancient biological life but there are other possibilities as well.

NASA is investigating Mars' "abnormal" carbon signature

My ears tingle when the same NASA statement refers to the words "curious," "Mars," and "ancient life." NASA announced on Sunday a new study investigating "abnormal carbon signals" measured by Curiosity Rover at the Red Planet Crater.

Curiosity has not found evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars, but scientists have not dismissed it as a possible explanation for Rover's exploration. The powdered rock specimens studied by Rover show the types of carbon features associated with Earth's biological life. But Mars was able to tell a very different story.

This study will be published in the Bulletin of the National Academy of Sciences this week.

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Since carbon is an important element of life on our planet, it is important to study what it looks like on Mars. "For example, organisms on Earth use small, light carbon-12 atoms to metabolize food and photosynthesis, as opposed to heavy carbon-13 atoms," NASA said. "Therefore, carbon-12, which is significantly higher than carbon-13 in ancient rocks, suggests that scientists are paying particular attention to life-threatening chemical signs."

Curiosity heated the rock sample in the laboratory on board and used its adjustable laser spectrometer to measure the gas emitted from the sample. Some rock samples contained "a surprisingly large amount of carbon-12" compared to those found in the Martian atmosphere and Martian meteorites.

According to a statement from Pennsylvania State University, researchers have provided some explanations. "Clouds of cosmic dust, UV rays decompose carbon dioxide or UV decay of biologically formed methane."

The cloud concept reconnects with what happened when the solar system passed through a cloud of galaxy dust millions of years ago. This can leave carbon-rich deposits on Mars. The second hypothesis suggests that UV light may interact with carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere of Mars, leaving molecules with distinct carbon characteristics on the surface.

The idea of ​​biological origin may be related to the release of methane into the bacterial atmosphere, where it returned to Mars and settled into a molecule that retains the characteristic curiosity of carbon. ..