This NASA discovery on Mars could be the key to big questions about life on this planet! Thanks to the Curiosity rover, a space vehicle with scientific tools, it was possible to drill a hole on Mars and take a rock sample. You might think this is another rock to analyze, but nothing could be further from the truth.

This NASA mission is a unique moment because scientists have never seen anything like it on Mars. It wasn’t a quick mission since the sample was taken on the 279th day and they got organic compounds, like hydrocarbons which could lead to big questions about life on the red planet and its atmosphere. So, let’s know more about this mission!

What NASA found

The Curiosity rover obtained a rock sample which scientists analyzed once it reached Earth with very advanced equipment. What they didn’t expect to find was that this rock had organic molecules called long-chain hydrocarbons. This means Mars could have had valid conditions to inhabit it in the past, because these molecules are made of carbon, which is a key element for life as we know it.

This finding and Earth

This NASA finding is very important to us because our planet keeps getting worse when it comes to the horrible conditions of the ozone layer, responsible for protecting us from the sun.If this layer gets weaker and weaker, life on our planet could become more difficult and dangerous with the passage of time…

How did the Curiosity rover make this happen?

NASA scientists spent years building robots that could travel to Mars. It wasn’t easy because Mars has a thick atmosphere that’s hard to get through. They had to design machines that could land safely, work properly, and not break. After lots of tries, the Curiosity rover finally landed and drilled into the ground in May 2013 — exactly on its 279th day on Mars.

Can we live on Mars now?

Not yet. Even though this discovery is super exciting, Mars is still really dangerous for humans. Its atmosphere is toxic, partly because of iron oxide (which makes the planet look red), and there isn’t enough oxygen to breathe.

Some people have even thought about extreme ideas like “nuking” Mars — using nuclear bombs to change its atmosphere — but that’s just an idea and hasn’t been done.

For now, humans would need special suits, shelters, and lots of equipment just to survive there.

Importance of life on Mars

Finding signs that life once existed on Mars can help NASA understand how life began on Earth. It could help answer big questions like:

How did life start?
Where do we come from?
Do we share a common ancestor?
Could there be life on other planets too?

Studying this also helps scientists learn more about genes and how living things change over time. If we understand how life started somewhere else, we can compare it to Earth and discover new things.

What’s next?

Even though we haven’t found any Martians or living creatures yet, this discovery is a huge step forward. Science isn’t just about what we know right now — it’s about what we might find in the future. And that future could be closer than we think.

Every NASA mission is related to us in some way, that’s why we can’t take for granted scientific studies on other planets. If something is going wrong out in space, we should worry about it because in one way or another, that will affect us. Now, the big question is: can you imagine there might be life somewhere else in space? Everybody has talked about this at some point of their lives, and who knows if scientists are closer to getting an answer…