Scientists have for years come to various conclusions on whether or not there are traces of methane in Mars' atmosphere. The gas, which is plentiful here on Earth, is a crucial indicator of life.
In 2003, scientist discovered small traces of methane on Mars' carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere, Al Jazeera English reported. Further research in 2009 found that the gas was distributed throughout the Red Planet and that its quantities changed over time. The gas' discovery on the planet suggests that there was or is life on the previously thought dead planet.
However, a new experiment by NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, found no traces of the gas in the planet's air. Using its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS) instrument, Curiosity took a "gulp" of Martian air to detect any amounts of methane, Al Jazeera English reported.
According to SAM TLS lead Chris Webster of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., "Methane is clearly not an abundant gas at the Gale Crater site, if it is there at all. At this point in the mission we're just excited to be searching for it."
Webster told Al Jazeera, "While we determine upper limits on low values, atmospheric variability in the Martian atmosphere could yet hold surprises for us."
During the November 2 announcement from NASA, Curiosity's team also announced "with 95 percent certainty, Martian methane does not exceed five parts per billion (p.p.b.), a level that could more readily be explained by non-biological geochemical reactions or by comet impacts delivering pulses of the gas from space," Nature journal wrote.
The new development is not thwarting the European Space Agency from sending its Trace Gas Orbiter to the Red Planet in 2016, Nature reported. Olivier Witasse, the mission's project scientist at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, told Nature journal, "I'm not worried right now. I think it's not the end of the story."
The ESA's mission would map the planet's distribution of gases, as well as map the planet's methane concentration. However, whether or not methane is found, Witasse told Nature journal that the agency's mission should provide a better understanding of Mars' atmosphere.
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