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The famous Mars meteorite Allan Hills 84001 (ALH84001), recovered in Antarctica in December 1984, contains 4 billion-year-old native organic molecules, the building blocks of life that contain carbon, a new study suggests. Furthermore, these bricks contain nitrogen, another ingredient on which life on Earth depends.
These ingredients have been found within the carbonate minerals, which generally form in groundwater. The finding shows that Mars was once wet and potentially habitable, according to members of the study team. Scientists think that ALH84001 was ejected from Mars by a strong impact 16 million years ago and reached our planet about 13,000 years ago.
In the new study, researchers led by Mizuho Koike, from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Institute for Space Science and Astronautics, have examined the rock of Mars in a way never done before – through highly precise and innovative analytical techniques, including a type of X-ray spectroscopy.
No one had organic substances found containing nitrogen on the rock before now, team members point. According to experts, organic compounds were trapped in the rock about 4 billion years ago and their techniques have minimized the possibility of terrestrial contamination.
obviously This discovery does not imply that there is life on Mars; These compounds can be produced both abiotically and biologically. “Early in the history of the solar system, Mars was probably flooded with significant amounts of organic matter, such as carbon-rich meteorites, comets, and dust particles.“Add study co-author Atsuko Kobayashi. “Some of them may have dissolved in the Martian brine and become trapped in the carbonates.“
The theme of “life on Mars” will be further explored when the Perseverance rover reaches the planet. NASA’s vehicle will also carry a small helicopter that will explore the world from above.
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