December 17, 2014

Evidence of life on Mars may have been discovered by NASA’s Curiosity Rover, scientists with the Curiosity team reported yesterday. One of the instruments on the robot has detected very strong spikes in the levels of methane gas measured at a vent in the planet’s Gale Crater. Scientists characterized these methane spikes as mysterious and not easily explained. Speaking at the American Geophysical Union convention in San Francisco, Sushil Atreya of the Curiosity team noted, “This temporary increase in methane—sharply up and then back down—tells us there must be some relatively localized source.” While the source is unknown, the NASA team speculates that it could be from very small, bacteria-like living organisms. On Earth, 95 percent of methane comes from microbial organisms. Atreya stated that other possible explanations include interaction of water and rocks or organic material left behind by meteors that is being degraded by the rays of the Sun. An earlier Curiosity test at Gale Crater suggested that water once flowed there billions of years ago.

NASA’s rover Curiosity discovered a spike in methane levels on Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

NASA’s Curiosity Rover landed on Mars in 2012. A manned mission to Mars is planned for 2020.

Additional World Book articles:

• Red Rover: Curiosity on Mars (a special report)
• Space exploration 2012 (a Back in Time article)
• Space exploration 2013 (a Back in Time article)