CNN Indonesia
Friday, 14 Jul 2023 17:00 WIB
NASA’s robot on Mars Perseverance discovers organic matter. (via REUTERS/NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Jakarta, CNNIndonesia —
United States Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found organic substances in Marsprecisely in the Jezero Crater area.
This organic matter was discovered by the Perseverance rover.
Researchers say these materials may be of “biotic” origin, or the result of life on this planet. However, they may also have formed in other ways, such as interactions between water and dust or being dropped onto the planet by dust or meteors.
These findings suggest that Mars may have had a much more active past than we realize, and could have significant implications for the search for alien life.
According to the new study, understanding more about Martian organic matter could shed light on the availability of carbon sources, which has implications for the search for potential signs of life.
The Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (Sherloc) instrument on the rover is the first tool to enable fine-scale mapping and analysis of organic and mineral molecules on Mars.
Quoted from The IndependencePerseverance landed in the Jezero crater, an ancient lake basin location with a high potential for habitation in the past since February 2021.
Since then, scientists have explored the geological makeup of the crater floor using a suite of tools aboard the rover that can photograph and analyze rock.
Sunanda Sharma, Ryan Roppel and their colleagues analyzed observations of two formations on the floor of the Jezero crater.
Organic molecular signals were detected at 10 targets that Sherloc observed at the bottom of the Jezero crater. These molecules are known to be concentrated in the Maaz formation, more abundantly than in the Seitah formation.
The data show a wide variety of mineral associations and spatial distributions that may be unique to each formation.
According to the researchers, even if the material didn’t really come from biological organisms, it could still give us important clues about whether Mars is capable of becoming a home for alien life.
“Not all organic materials are of biological origin. Observing the spatial relationships between minerals and organics is necessary when evaluating organic origins and potential bio-signatures,” said Ashley E Murphy, a researcher at the Planetary Science Institute and one of the authors on the study published in Jurnal Nature This.
“Everything we know about life on Earth is limited to what is recorded in the rock mineral record. On Earth, biosignatures are found in certain minerals and some minerals are better at preserving organic matter than others,” he said.
“Mars may have had an early geological history similar to Earth’s, so we are using our knowledge of life as we know it on Earth to look for potential evidence of past life on Mars.”
“Mapping organic matter allows for a better understanding of whether the Martian carbon cycle is similar to or different from Earth’s, and the potential of Mars to host life,” he added.
Furthermore, the researchers say this diversity among objects of observation can provide insight into the different ways in which material may have come from organic matter, such as through deposition by water, or in combination with volcanic materials.
(lom/arh)
2023-07-14 10:00:01
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