{"id":24716,"date":"2022-02-01T20:25:14","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T12:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/curiosity-detects-potentially-biologically-produced-carbon-signature-on-mars\/"},"modified":"2022-02-01T20:25:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-01T12:25:14","slug":"curiosity-detects-potentially-biologically-produced-carbon-signature-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/curiosity-detects-potentially-biologically-produced-carbon-signature-on-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"Curiosity detects potentially biologically-produced carbon signature on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover, which has been scouring Gale Crater and the slopes of Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons) since 2012, has detected an important carbon signature in samples collected using its assortment of research instruments. The samples feature a rich carbon signature that is associated with biological processes on Earth.<\/p>\n

Scientists were able to detect the signature from samples analyzed by the TLS (Tunable Laser Spectrometer) and SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) instruments.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

While the detection of this carbon signature is intriguing, it doesn\u2019t directly point to ancient life on the Red Planet. Curiosity scientists have not yet found conclusive evidence supporting ancient or present-day life on Mars \u2014 though that is an element for Curiosity\u2019s cousin rover, Perseverance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re finding things on Mars that are tantalizingly interesting, but we would really need more evidence to say we\u2019ve identified life,\u201d said Paul Mahaffy, former principal investigator of the SAM instrument at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re looking at what else could have caused the carbon signature we\u2019re seeing if not life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Detecting the signatures<\/p>\n

Curiosity\u2019s SAM instrument lab is comprised of five primary components: a gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, a Tunable Laser Spectrometer, a Sample Manipulation System, and ovens.<\/p>\n

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For this particular study, Christopher House of Pennsylvania State University led a team that used 24 different samples collected by Curiosity during its time in Gale Crater. Each sample was taken from five geologically diverse regions in the area that featured well-preserved ancient surfaces.<\/p>\n

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The Highfield drill hole, drilled by Curiosity on Dec. 10, 2021. This particular drill hole and sample was rich in carbon. (Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS)<\/p>\n

Each sample was placed into SAM\u2019s ovens, where they were heated to approximately 850\u00b0 Celcius \u2014 allowing gases inside the samples to release into SAM\u2019s instruments. Once these gases reached the instruments, the Tunable Laser Spectrometer then measured the isotopes of some carbon released from the samples.<\/p>\n

Isotopes like those measured in the House et al. research are vital to understanding the potential biological processes and the known chemical processes that did \u2014 and still are \u2014 taking place on Mars. Curiosity is the first rover capable of interpreting and studying carbon isotopes directly on the Martian surface.<\/p>\n

But why is carbon so important?<\/p>\n

Carbon is commonly considered one of the most \u2014 if not the most \u2014 important elements in life as it is currently understood and known to have evolved. Carbon is also continuously around us in the air, water, and ground.<\/p>\n

Understanding carbon and its characteristics on Mars could be crucial to the search for life on the Red Planet and in other locations throughout our solar system \u2014 like some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.<\/p>\n

Carbon signatures are comprised of several different types of atoms that vary in size and weight. Living creatures on Earth use a carbon-12 atom to metabolize nourishment and\/or photosynthesize instead of the larger and heavier carbon-13 atom.<\/p>\n

If astrobiologists and researchers can determine the types of carbon atoms present in samples that feature carbon signatures, they can gain a better understanding of what conditions the sample was exposed to before being sampled by a rover. For example, if large amounts of carbon-12 atoms were found, it could mean the signatures are connected to life-related chemistry \u2014 as long as other environmental evidence supports.<\/p>\n

Additionally, investigating and understanding the ratio between the types of carbon atoms present in a carbon signature provides insight into the type of life that could have existed and the environment it lived in.<\/p>\n