Featured Image Credit: NASA Mars Twitter
Topics: Mars, NASA, Science, Space, Donald Trump, US News, Technology
Ffion Jarvis
Topics: Mars, NASA, Science, Space, Donald Trump, US News, Technology
NASA has uncovered a significant new piece of evidence which shows potential ancient microbial life on Mars.
The question of whether there is life on other planets is one we all share curiosity in and it turns out that there may have been once upon a time.
However, it's not that easy to figure out. NASA scientists have found clues but nothing is determined just yet - they need to further their investigations to confirm if what they saw is biological or origin.
Until then, though, excitement remains high after NASA's Perseverance rover found rocks covered with a leopard-print pattern last year at the bottom of a canyon carved out by the river located in Bright Angel Formation area.
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"We've not had something like this before so I think that's the big deal", commented Professor Sanjeev Gupta - a planetary scientist from Imperial College London.
The mud stone rocks are about 3.5bn years old, made up of fine-grained rock formed from clays. Mars is a cold and arid desert on an average day. But billions of years ago there is evidence that it had a thick atmosphere and water, making it the perfect place to look for past life.
Before the rover transmitted the data and findings back to earth, it analyzed the minerals in the rocks. What the rover found is promising.
"We think what we have found is evidence for a set of chemical reactions which took place in the mud that was deposited in the bottom of the lake and those chemical reactions seem to have taken place between the mud itself and organic matter- and those two ingredients reacted to form new minerals," explained Joel Hurowitz, from Stony Brook University in New York.
Scientists have also studied how the minerals could have formed without microbes, finding it could also be natural geological processes that caused the reaction. However, the findings are so significant that NASA has characterized them as 'potential biosignatures'.
"We have found features in the rocks that if you saw them on Earth could be explained by biology - by microbial process. So we're not saying that we found life, but we're saying that it really gives us something to chase," Gupta said.
In order for the scientists to rest their mind about the potential life on Mars, a mission to the planet is needed.
If only it were that easy. What they need is a sample of Mars and this cannot be done with the threat of budget cuts to the US Space Agency.
The proposed cuts have been put forward in Donald Trump's 2026 budget and sadly the sample return mission is one of those facing budget cuts.
Samples in canisters will be continued to be left on the surface of Mars, awaiting for a mission to be brought back to earth.
It is all uncertain when NASA will be able to continue their study in finding life on Mars due to 2026 potential budget cuts. However if all else fails, China is said to be launching a sample mission in 2028.
The scientists will be waiting in anticipation until then.
"I think for true confidence, most scientists would want to see and examine these rocks on Earth - this is one of our high priority samples to return", added Professor Gupta.