Scientists hope that thanks to this they will be able to find traces of life on the Red Planet
TASS, November 1. According to the results of the study of soil samples from the so-called Bagnold dunes, which was conducted by the Curiosity rover, scientists concluded that there are large reserves of organic matter on the surface of Mars. This is the second alleged "deposit" of organic matter on the Red Planet. A description of the study was published by the scientific journal Nature Astronomy.
"We did not find amino acids in these soil samples, but there are benzene and ammonia derivatives, phenols, phosphoric acid and high-molecular compounds. We have not yet established the origin of these substances," the researchers write.
Curiosity found the first organic matter on Mars about three years ago in the central part of Gale crater. Rover's chemical laboratory found traces of benzene derivatives in samples of local rocks, as well as sulfur compounds and many simple and aromatic hydrocarbons.
During the new analysis, scientists from the Curiosity team led by Paul Mahaffy discovered another large "deposit" of organic matter on Mars. This time the samples were from another area of Mars - the so-called Bagnold Dunes.
This area of Gale crater interested scientists because here the rover found deposits of rocks formed in hot springs. Life could once have existed in them. Therefore, Curiosity stopped at different parts of the Bagnold dunes, collected soil and rock samples and placed them in a special storage of the SAM laboratory for further study.
Previously, during the analysis, Martian rocks were heated to a high temperature, as a result of which various gases were released from them, which were studied using a chromatograph. Thanks to this, scientists could detect relatively simple organic compounds in samples, but it was impossible to isolate complex substances that decompose when heated.
To solve this problem, instruments for conducting experiments on the so-called "wet chemistry" were installed on the rover. In this case, the crushed rock samples are washed with a special substance that dissolves complex organic matter and allows you to determine its existence using a chromatograph. A limited number of containers with this substance are installed on the rover, so samples are selected very carefully for experiments in "wet chemistry".
In the case of the samples from the Bagnold dunes, the choice of Mahaffy and his colleagues was fully justified. The rover's instruments found benzene compounds, various amines, phenols, phosphoric acid, as well as two dozen complex organic molecules in them. Their exact composition is still a mystery due to the limited capabilities of the laboratory at Curiosity.
The discovery of complex organic matter in two different parts of Gale Crater at once is an important evidence that Curiosity's previous find was not an accident or a mistake. Mahaffy and his colleagues hope that through further experiments, planetary scientists will be able to find traces of amino acids and other substances from which Martian life could arise.
