Ancient Organics Discovered on Mars
The Curiosity rover has discovered ancient organic molecules on Mars, embedded within sedimentary rocks that are billions of years old. Complete transcript available.
Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.
Music provided by Killer Tracks: "Crystalline" by Enrico Cacace & Manuel Bandettini, "Based On True Events" by Eric Chevalier, "Mirrored Cubes" by Laurent Dury, "Lost In The Sky" by Matthews Samar
Since arriving at Mars in 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover has drilled into rocks in search of organics – molecules containing carbon. Organics are the building blocks of all life on Earth, though they can also come from non-living sources. The surface of Mars readily destroys these molecules, making them difficult to detect. Now, Curiosity has discovered ancient organics that have been preserved in rocks for billions of years. This finding helps scientists better understand the habitability of early Mars, and it paves the way for future missions to the Red Planet.
Learn more about this discovery, or visit NASA's Mars Exploration Program. For an in-depth explanation of the results, watch the NASA-TV broadcast featuring members of the Curiosity science team.
For More Information
See NASA.gov
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Animators
- Chris Smith (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- John Blackwell (LPI)
- Josh Masters (Freelance)
- Lisa Poje (Freelance)
- Michael Lentz (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Walt Feimer (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Science writer
- William Steigerwald (NASA/GSFC)
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Editor
- Dan Gallagher (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Scientists
- Jennifer Eigenbrode (NASA/GSFC)
- Paul Mahaffy (NASA/GSFC)
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Interviewee
- Jennifer Eigenbrode (NASA/GSFC)
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Producer
- Dan Gallagher (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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- Rob Andreoli (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.)
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- John Caldwell (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.)
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Project support
- Molly Wasser (ADNET)
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Technical support
- Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)