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posted by takyon on Monday June 24 2019, @05:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the smelt-it dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

NASA's Curiosity rover makes surprising methane discovery on Mars

NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, has detected the largest amount of methane yet measured during its seven years on the Red Planet. It's a particularly riveting discovery because the methane levels discovered by the rover are about three times higher than previous detections, leading to some speculation the gas may be biological in origin.

A report by the New York Times on Saturday first revealed the curious finding after obtaining an internal email from Ashwin Vasavada, a project scientist on the mission. On Sunday, NASA released a statement confirming the discovery, explaining how Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite of instruments had detected methane at 21 parts per billion units by volume -- much higher than ever before.

[...] Scientists have detected hints of methane on the surface of Mars in the past, including as far back as the Viking missions in the 1970s. Thus, the discovery of more methane doesn't necessarily mean we've stumbled upon life. Spikes in Mars' methane levels aren't unusual, with a study reporting last June on seasonal variations in the molecule's atmospheric concentration.

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's science mission directorate, has cautioned against jumping straight to the E.T. solution on Twitter, noting methane can be created by geological processes. And sadly, as far as we know, rocks are not living beings.

Also at BBC and New Atlas.


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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday June 24 2019, @09:03PM (1 child)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday June 24 2019, @09:03PM (#859501)

    >rocks are not living beings.

    Maybe, maybe not, but they're certainly not the living beings we are looking for.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 25 2019, @01:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 25 2019, @01:11AM (#859567)

    These are not the rocks you're looking for.