For years, astronomers have wondered where the Red Planet got its organic carbon compounds, which are thought to be necessary for life as we know it on Earth. That organic carbon often comes from biological sources on Earth, but researchers have been working to figure out how they’re created on Mars. Now, a new analysis of Martian meteorites indicates that the organic carbon on Mars may have come from naturally-occurring “batteries.”
By analyzing three meteorites that fell to Earth from Mars, a research team led by Andrew Steele of the Carnegie Institution for Science found that the meteorites hold organic carbon similar to the kind detected on Mars by NASA’s Curiosity rover. That allowed Steele and his team to study and reveal how organic carbon compounds are synthesized on Mars.