NASA's Perseverance rover detects organic matter on the Red Planet
NASA officials on the Perseverance project have issued an official statement that their rover, while exploring rocks at the bottom of the crater Jezero (Mars), discovered the so-called "bricks of life" - carbon-containing organic chemical substances.
This discovery and its possible consequences will be discussed in the current material.
Where could organics come from on Mars?
I would like to note right away that at the moment there is no question of the discovery of life on Mars. After all, these organic compounds can be produced both biologically and non-biologically.
The rover found traces of organic matter in the dusty layer, as well as on the surface of some stones at the study of the bottom of the Jezero crater, which, as experts assume, was previously nothing more than the ancient lake.
The main task of Perseverance is to search for traces of ancient life on the planet, as well as to collect rock samples, which will subsequently be delivered to Earth for careful study.
But on the rover, in addition to special equipment designed for assembling samples, a research equipment, including the Planetary X-ray Lithochemistry Instrument (PIXL), which deals with primary analysis selected breeds.
So the PIXL apparatus, having analyzed the samples collected from the Jezero site called South Seita, established a fairly high content of olivine crystals along with pyroxene crystals.
Such a picture is typical for a scenario when initially crystals formed and settled in a smoothly cooling lava, and only then all these stones were exposed to prolonged exposure to liquid water.
All this data will allow scientists to accurately determine when exactly the water on Mars was in abundance and, thus, reveal the secret of young Mars.
But the capabilities of instruments on the rover are limited, therefore, in order to understand whether the organic compounds found are the product of living organisms, you need to wait until the samples get to Earth and scientists will carefully study samples.
Well, we will monitor further discoveries of Perseverance and look forward to the delivery of the Martian soil, as well as the results of its analysis.
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