Curiosity Finds Simple Organics, But Big Questions Remain

The Curiosity rover has detected organic compounds on Mars, NASA scientists announced at a press conference today. But the source of these carbon-containing molecules, which are essential to sustaining life, is still up in the air.

Using Curiosity?s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite of instruments, researchers found traces of water, sulfur, and small amounts of organics in the form chlorine-containing compounds, though the researchers were quick to point out that they?re still trying to determine the source of the organics?they could very well could be from residual earth contaminants, the scientists warned. "[SAM] has made this detection of simple, organic compounds; we just don?t know if they?re indigenous to Mars or not," said project scientist John Grotzinger.

SAM also identified the oxygen- and chlorine-containing compound perchlorate, but researchers are tentative to confirm that this organic-eradicating compound?which was responsible for throwing off the Viking lander?s organic detection experiments?is present in the soil. "We have to be careful when we say something is perchlorate, until you have definitive evidence," she says. "What we have seen is we have some oxidized chlorine in there, but we don?t know yet, definitively, if we see perchlorate."

The announcement follows a week of controversy surrounding some comments Grotzinger made to NPR in anticipation of today?s announcement. Grotzinger seemed to speak of a "historic" discovery, comments which sparked a flurry of speculation that NASA eventually culled last week.

Mismanaged expectations aside, it?s anything but a letdown for the MSL science team?in fact, it?s exactly what they suspected. These soil samples Curiosity ingested were purposefully bereft of any complex chemistry. "It?s not unexpected that this sand pile would not be rich in organics," says Paul Mahaffy, SAM principal investigator. "It?s been exposed to the harsh Martian environment, and we really selected that site to scrub out the sample processing system." In effect, the regolith Curiosity ate was meant to cleanse the rover?s palette, establishing a baseline before the rover goes on to investigate suspected organic-rich soils of Mount Sharp, the rover?s final destination.

Grotzinger says it will take some time to determine the source of the newfound organics. Researchers need to examine the compounds? isotopic ratios and chemical structure to determine if they came from Earth, space, or Mars. Deputy Principal Investigator Pam Conrad tells PM that if the organics detected within SAM are Martian natives, then they?ll share the same isotopes ratios as the Martian atmosphere. If the organics indeed come from Mars, then researchers will need to determine if they were created biotically or abiotically, Grotzinger says, since even geothermal processes can create organic compounds.

"The reason why these materials are important with respect to habitability is that living things don?t compose themselves," Conrad says. "We look to see if the environment can supply the raw material that living things use for metabolism."

And even if Curiosity detected native, biotically produced organic compounds, it still won?t be definitive proof of life on Mars. That question is much more complex, Conrad says. "We?re really in the infancy of trying to figure out how to assess habitability," she says. "There are a lot of factors that we are going to be measuring to try and understand the relative potential for habitability on Mars."

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/moon-mars/curiosity-finds-simple-organics-but-big-questions-remain-14815297?src=rss

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