Organic compounds found in Mars rocks are too abundant to rule out the possibility of Martian life in the red planet\u2019s history, NASA scientists say.<\/p>\n
In March of 2025<\/a>, NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover discovered oily chemicals on Mars. These chemicals, called decane, undecane, and dodecane, are types of long molecules made of carbon and hydrogen. Scientists first considered that they might come from rocks or meteorites. But after studying the data, NASA scientists said those sources don\u2019t explain where the chemicals came from, which has left the door open to possible Martian life that may have existed a long-time ago.<\/p>\n \u201cScientists combined lab radiation experiments, mathematical modeling and Curiosity data to \u2018rewind the clock\u2019 about 80 million years \u2014 the length of time the rock would have been exposed on the Martian surface,\u201d NASA planetary science writer Lonnie Schekhtman wrote on the <\/a>science.NASA.gov<\/a> website. \u201cThis allowed them to estimate how much organic material would have been present before being destroyed by long-term exposure to cosmic radiation: far more than typical nonbiological processes could produce.\u201d<\/p>\n The scientists, based at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, published their work on Feb. 4 in the journal Astrobiology<\/a>.<\/p>\n The paper found that the compounds could be fragments of fatty acids preserved in the ancient mudstone of Gale Crater. On Earth, fatty acids are produced mostly by living organisms.<\/p>\n NASA scientists typically spend more time arguing against claims of extraterrestrial life, including a 2008 non-announcement following blogosphere rumors of a major discovery<\/a> by the Phoenix Mars Lander. The website SpaceRef.com<\/a> reported on a \u201chigh-level briefing\u201d regarding potential life on Mars, which prompted widespread speculation. NASA held a press conference to sweep away rumors.<\/p>\n In November, NASA also spent a significant portion of a science press conference about interstellar traveler, comet 3IAtlas<\/a>, explaining that it was a comet, not an alien spacecraft.<\/p>\n