NASA spacecraft digs up something that could have been created by Martian creatures

(NLDO) - Drilling down into a large impact crater on Mars, NASA's life-hunting rover Curiosity found a "treasure".

Writing in the scientific journal PNAS, a multinational team led by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said the robotic lander Curiosity had just dug up the largest carbon molecules ever discovered on Mars.

They were likely created by extraterrestrial beings.

The area where the Mars Curiosity rover operates is marked - Photo: NASA

According to Science Alert, Curiosity made a special discovery when drilling down into the Cumberland mudstone mine inside a giant impact crater called Gale Crater that it was exploring.

The researchers used a testing procedure involving chemical enhancements to analyze the excavated mineral samples.

This is done by the miniature laboratory that Curiosity carries in its belly.

As a result, they identified extremely small concentrations of saturated hydrocarbon chains in the form of decane (C ₁₀ H ₂₂ ), undecane (C ₁₁ H ₂₄ ) and dodecane (C ₁₂ H ₂₆ ).

Given the conditions on Mars, there are two reasons for these hydrocarbons to be present on the red planet.

It is likely that they were formed from simpler molecules such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide without any assistance from living organisms.

However, the likelihood of living organisms producing them is still high. Our bodies contain many of the same carboxylic acids, which can be preserved in sedimentary rocks.

“Although abiotic processes can generate these acids, they are thought to be ubiquitous products of biochemical processes, both terrestrial and terrestrial on Earth and perhaps on Mars,” the authors say.

Of course these molecules cannot be considered direct evidence of the presence of life on this planet, but they are an important clue.

Mars has also revealed many other clues in the past that suggest the possibility that life once existed, or even exists, here.

The Gale Crater area that Curiosity is exploring also has signs of ancient water, most likely a river delta several billion years ago.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/tau-nasa-dao-duoc-thu-co-the-do-sinh-vat-sao-hoa-tao-ra-196250326094123247.htm