Curiosity finds building blocks for life on Mars

Curiosity has found some clues that life on Mars may have indeed been possible in the distant past. So, while there are some clues, the Mars probe has been unable to provide evidence of life on the red planet.

Curiosity found organic molecules on Mars containing the building blocks for life, says space agency NASA. The molecules Curiosity extracted from rock powder that NASA employees have named Cumberland include carbon and hydrogen. NASA does mention that organic molecules can indicate life, but that they can also exist without life on Mars.

In addition to the organic molecules, the Mars rover also measured a peak in the methane concentration in the atmosphere. At the beginning of 2014, seven in a billion particles in the atmosphere were methane, ten times as much as in other periods.

From both clues, NASA infers that there have been “favorable conditions” on Mars to support life. Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012 and its mission, among other things, to discover whether life was ever possible on the red planet. In addition, the Mars rover needs to make measurements in preparation for a mission to Mars with humans; it must take place sometime in the next thirty years.