Ending life on Mars a step closer

Ending life on Mars a step closer

SciencesSeptember 17 22 10:00author: Vera Power

NASA scientists have discovered that the bottom of Mars consists of different rocks than they initially expected. Samples from the Mars probe show lava rocks on the Red Planet. Last night, NASA provided an update for the Mars mission. “They only expected to find river deposits there, but they also found volcanic rocks,” says space expert Rob van den Berg.

The rock was found near a river delta. A dry river and a dry lake can be found in that area. “These are exactly the places where you would expect a lot of life on Earth,” says van den Berg. NASA believed to find deposits from the ancient river there, but volcanic rocks were also found there.

This igneous rock opens up new possibilities. “These rocks can be dated specifically by age.” According to the space expert, NASA is pleased with this discovery. “So far, we have only guesses about the age of some phenomena on Mars,” he says. This can be more accurately determined using igneous rocks.

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2033

The Mars probe samples won’t reach Earth until 2033. What happens to the samples will be determined in a month. So they can be left behind on the surface, but some of them will bring them back to Earth. “Then there will be two missions to Mars to collect these tubes and bring them back,” van den Berg says.

Life on Mars

So it will take some time before the samples can be thoroughly checked. But the Mars rover can also analyze some things on its own. It is a small mobile laboratory. According to van den Berg, organic molecules have already been found by the Mars probe. “But it doesn’t have to come from a single-celled life.” So it will take at least another ten years to determine if there is life on Mars.

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