‘Organic Molecules’ Discovered That Could Have Traces of Life on Mars

With the development of technology, we can learn more and more about the Solar System and our neighboring planets. The fascinating images obtained by the spacecraft ‘touching the sun’ also reveal the level of space exploration. NASA, which has intensified its work on Mars in recent years, has now shared the information that the exploration vehicle called Perseverance has encountered ‘organic molecules’.

NASA shared information this week from images and geological samples from the exploration vehicle, which is currently researching on a crater called ‘Jezero’. Among the information obtained by the rover, it was mentioned that there were organic molecules in the crater called Jezero. Could this discovery, which also contains important information about the formation process of the crater, be a trace of life remains?

NASA clarified the issue:

One of the most important missions of the Perseverance rover on Mars is to collect information on the remains of life. As such, when the word ‘organic’ is mentioned, remnants of living life come to mind. However, the statement made by NASA is that this is not exactly the case. Stating that there are both biological and non-biological mechanisms that create organic molecules, NASA is of the opinion that this discovery should not be considered as a finding on the remains of life.

The rover also examined the structure of the crater, revealing that this formerly ‘lake bed’ area was formed as a result of lava flows. Detecting the crystallized structures of the cooling magma remnants, Perseverance later revealed that the ground was modified over time by the ‘water’. Thanks to these new findings, scientists will be able to obtain clearer information about when the water is dense on Mars. At the same time, with the discovery of the ‘organic molecule’, new information can be obtained about how suitable Mars was for life in the past and in the future.

Have you seen the rover’s scan of Mars’ Jezero Crater?