Is Mars' Methane Spike a Sign of Life? Here’s How We’ll Know
WiredIn 2012, the Curiosity rover landed in Gale crater, a valley that is 96 miles in diameter with a large mountain rising near its center. “And now for the first time we have a likely source region of methane on Mars.” LEARN MORE The WIRED Guide to Aliens Determining whether the methane was produced by microbes or geological processes will be tricky, but that’s part of the reason why Giuranna and other scientists studying Mars are so excited about Curiosity’s new methane detection. In a case of cosmic good fortune, the Mars Express orbiter happened to be performing spot tracking observations of the Gale crater right around the time Curiosity detected the methane spike. In this case, the Mars Express orbiter was doing spot tracking 20 hours before Curiosity’s methane detection, as well as 24 and 48 hours after the detection. Together these measurements will be used to confirm Curiosity’s detection of a methane spike and add constraints that will help scientists determine things like when the methane release started and how long it lasted.
History of this topic
Scientists closer to solving methane mystery on Mars, says Nasa
Hindustan Times
Is there methane on Mars? Scientists close to solving mystery of the gas on Red Planet
India Today
The Curiosity rover detects oxygen behaving strangely on Mars
CNN)
The mystery of Mars' missing methane might finally have been solved
Firstpost
NASA's Curiosity rover detects high methane gas levels, hinting at life on Mars
Firstpost
Curiosity rover detects abnormally high levels of methane on Mars
CNN)
Scientists think they know what the source of methane in Mars' atmosphere could be
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