A couple of days ago NASA informed the media and the public that they made a huge discovery and wanted to share what that was with everyone.
3 days ago on July 7 they said that they discovered indications of ''alien life'' or to be more exact organic matter and methane that bring us a step closer to the existence of alien life. In that discovery NASA's Mars curiosity had a significant role in this as it basically discovered everything.
Let's take a step back for those that don't know what actually NASA's curiosity rover is and does.
Curiosity is a rover that launched on November 26 2011 and landed in Gale crater that scientists believe it was a lake many many years ago. The cost was about 2.5 billion USD and imagine that it was 1 billion over budget but i'd say it worth it. it weights a little less that 1 kg (900 kilograms). It includes 17 cameras, 2 of them are ''it's eyes'' and through them it can capture high resolution images which then can be studied back in Earth. Some of the cool things that also includes it's a mini lab and a small laser that can destroy rocks and even small aliens :p
What's it's mission?
That is the most exciting thing in my mind as the main mission of curiosity is to detect and determine if ever Mars had life. Aside from that it also investigate and study the geology and climate of Mars as well as the radiation of the atmosphere. That has many aspects and hidden goals that are:
- to check once again if it could sustain life and how
- to investigate the history and morphology of the planet
- to check and find ways for humans to finally visit Mars and create a new habitable planet
Now that we have a glimpse of what Curiosity is and does let's move on the discovery.
Curiosity and therefore NASA found clues inside some stones inside the Gale crater which if you remember i mentioned earlier it is considered to be an ancient lake. Those clues were organic molecules which not directly indicates that life existed but lift the hopes up for scientists that it may be so. Inside those molecules elements like hydrogen oxygen are hidden. It may not sound that big of a deal but i assure you that from knowing that there was never life on Mars to having some chances into the existence of it changes the whole reality as we knew and know.
The curiosity also found fluctuations of atmospheric methane. As far as it concerns this the fluctuations are not steady and change depending on the season. According to the scientists that methane is hidden underground Mars and not just coming out of nowhere. More exactly it has something to do with the water once was there or some remnants of it that still remained underground.
Personal Touch
As i mentioned this is big news. If the yet unsolved mystery of life other than us out there seem more and more untrue a new reality and perception of our existence comes to mind. Those indications sound the alarm and bring new questions in the surface both for Mars and the rest of the galaxy.
Is it true or not that life form existed in Mars?
If yes how did they died?
What that means for the future of Earth?
Will be Mars the new ''Earth'' for humans?
What other Mysteries does Mars hide?
And the biggest one of all
Are we alone or not?
images 1 2 3
sources
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-finds-ancient-organic-material-mysterious-methane-on-mars
https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/971434/NASA-Life-on-Mars-NASA-discovery-Curiosity-Rover-alien-life
https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/971052/NASA-Mars-2018-live-conference-announcement-discovery-latest-news-life-on-mars
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html
https://www.space.com/17963-mars-curiosity.html