Over nearly six years roaming the surface of Mars, NASA ’s Curiosity rover has detected organic molecules that offer a taste of what an ancient life-friendly Red Planet might have looked like. Ever since the twin Viking landers touched down in 1976, scientists have hunted for signs of organic molecules on Mars. At their most basic, organic molecules are those made of carbon and hydrogen atoms, though they can have other atoms (such as oxygen or sulfur) as well. The problem was that these organic molecules contained an unusual atom: chlorine. For the previous mud stone samples that had produced the chlorinated molecules, scientists had heated the powdered rock to 200 degrees Celsius.

Source: Los Angeles Times June 08, 2018 02:15 UTC