NASA's Curiosity rover detects 'unusually high' level of methane on Mars

25 Jun 2019

NASA’s Curiosity rover detects ‘unusually high’ level of methane on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover detects ‘unusually high’ level of methane on MarsNASA's Curiosity rover detected unusually high levels of methane (CH4) on Mars last week.
The reading indicated that one billionth of the volume of air in Mars is methane.

So why is this unusually large amount of methane so interesting?

On Earth, microbes are an important source of methane. So scientists are excited by the idea that Mars might have living organisms that are creating the methane.
 	But interactions between rocks and water can also create methane and Mars has both.

The origin of the methane cannot be analysed right away because the rover doesn't have any instruments that can help find the source.

Curiosity has detected methane many times and but this is the highest recorded. The gas levels seem to rise and fall depending on the season.

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) will take time to study the measurements and prepare for more detections. They will also reach out to other science teams for information.

Image Credits: Twitter @Curiosity Rover

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NASA’s Curiosity rover detected unusually high levels of methane (CH4) on Mars last week. The reading indicated that one billionth of the volume of air […]

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