NASA Finds 7 New Organic Molecules on Mars

Scientists just confirmed that a Martian rock contains ingredients that could have sparked life billions of years ago.

NASA's Curiosity rover drilled a rock sample in 2020 that held 21 different organic molecules. Seven of them had never been detected on Mars before.

The rock, nicknamed "Mary Anning 3" after a famous fossil hunter, came from an area on Mount Sharp that was covered by lakes and streams billions of years ago. Clay minerals in this ancient oasis preserved these carbon-containing molecules remarkably well, even after billions of years of radiation exposure.

Among the discoveries is a nitrogen heterocycle, a ring-shaped molecule that scientists consider a building block for RNA and DNA. Lead author Amy Williams from the University of Florida called the detection "pretty profound" because these structures could be chemical precursors to the complex molecules needed for life.

The team also found benzothiophene, a molecule commonly found in meteorites that some scientists believe helped seed early chemistry across our solar system. These meteorites may have delivered similar organic compounds to Earth and Mars when both planets were young.

Scientists can't yet determine whether these molecules came from living organisms or natural geological processes. Both pathways are possible on ancient Mars.

The Bright Side

This discovery adds to growing evidence that Mars was once habitable. Last year, the same rover found the largest organic molecules ever discovered on Mars, including long-chain hydrocarbons.

The findings required incredible teamwork and cutting-edge technology. Curiosity used a sophisticated minilab called Sample Analysis at Mars, which heats pulverized rock samples to reveal their composition through released gases.

The rover even performed "wet chemistry" for the first time on Mars, using a powerful chemical solution to break apart larger molecules that would be difficult to detect otherwise. To verify their technique worked, scientists tested it on the Murchison meteorite, one of Earth's most studied space rocks at over 4 billion years old.

Curiosity recently used its second and final cup of this special solution on another promising site. The team is analyzing those results now for a future paper.

Project scientist Ashwin Vasavada summed up the achievement perfectly: "This collection of organic molecules once again increases the prospect that Mars offered a home for life in the ancient past."