Hopes of finding life on Mars dashed

NASA scientists' hopes of finding evidence of life on Mars have taken a step back after the latest information sent back by the Curiosity probe showed that the amount of methane in the Red Planet's atmosphere was lower than previously predicted.

In a report on September 19, NASA cited the results of analyzing data transmitted from the Curiosity rover showing that the density of methane in the Martian atmosphere is only about 1.3 ppb (a unit of measurement for the density of rare gases in the atmosphere).

Image on Mars. (Source: Nasa/EPA)

The finding is much lower than a prediction made in March 2003, which said the Red Planet could have about 19,000 tons of methane, a gas produced by biological processes.

This discovery also means that NASA almost has to eliminate the hypothesis of the existence of life on Mars and the previous prediction may have been due to mistakes in decoding images observed from telescopes located on Earth.

An author of the study, expert Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan, said that because there is no scientific explanation for the sudden disappearance of large amounts of methane in the atmosphere, Curiosity's discovery could lead to the confirmation that previous speculation about the existence of large amounts of methane on Mars was wrong.

However, Michael Meyer, head of NASA's Mars exploration program, said that the failure of the methane hypothesis does not mean that there is no longer a possibility of finding life on the Red Planet. Instead, the new discovery will help better guide future space science research.

Curiosity landed on Mars in August 2012. It has already found evidence of water and an environment that could have supported life on the planet. Curiosity is now on its way to a major exploration site on Mars, Mount Sharp.

NASA said studying the mountain is one of the main tasks of the Curiosity rover's two-year mission and could help determine when life existed on Mars./.

According to (TTXVN) - VT