Life on Mars? Organic molecules discovered on the red planet by NASA Curiosity rover are ‘consistent with alien life’

• Thiophene molecules contain carbon and sulphur which are essential for life
• These molecules have been identified on the surface of Mars by Curiosity rover 
• Astronomers believe their likely source of their origin is via biological processes
• Analysis from the Rosalind Franklin rover will shed light on molecules’ origin  

By JOE PINKSTONE FOR MAILONLINE 

Organic molecules present in truffles, coal and oil on Earth have been identified on the surface of Mars and may hint at the presence of alien life on the red planet.  

These chemicals, called thiophenes, are important molecules as they contain both carbon and sulphur — two ingredients essential for life. 

NASA‘s curiosity rover has identified signs of them on the surface of Mars and astronomers think the most likely source of origin is from biological processes.

Further analysis by the Rosalind Franklin rover that will launch later this year will help add credence to the tentative theory, researchers hope.   

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NASA’s curiosity rover has identified signs of thiophenes on the surface of the red planet and astronomers believe the most likely source is from biological processes. These chemicals contain both both carbon and sulphur — two ingredients essential for life

WHAT ARE THIOPHENES?  

Thiophene molecules have four carbon atoms and a sulphur atom arranged in a ring.

Both of these elements are essential for life.   

Thiophenes are found on Earth in coal, crude oil and oddly enough, in white truffles.

Thiophenes can also be created through a chemical reaction called thermochemical sulfate reduction.

This process involves a set of compounds being heated to 248 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsius) or more.

Washington State University astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch looked into how thiophenes came to exist on Mars. 

Their findings, published in the journal Astrobiology, indicate the chemicals were likely produced by biological processes and not chemical reactions. 

This is a major step in the hunt for Martian life but is not concrete proof, the scientists say. 

‘We identified several biological pathways for thiophenes that seem more likely than chemical ones, but we still need proof,’ Dirk Schulze-Makuch said. 

‘If you find thiophenes on Earth, then you would think they are biological, but on Mars, of course, the bar to prove that has to be quite a bit higher.’   

NASA’s Curiosity rover (pictured) has identified signs of them on the surface of the red planet and astronomers believe the most likely source is from biological processes

Thee most likely source of these chemicals is thought to be biological processes of primitive lifeforms but it is also possible they were formed after a meteor impact. 

A space rock crash landing can cause searing temperatures and thiophenes can be created if a host of certain chemicals are heated to around 120°C (248°F).  

HOW WILL ROSALIND’S ‘ALIEN HUNTING’ CAMERA WORK? 

The camera system, called Pan-Cam, was designed by engineers at University College London.

It perches atop the rover’s high mast and is fitted with sensors that scan the planet’s surface in search of minerals or water. 

Once it identifies an area, it will travel towards it at 47 inches an hour, then drill down to take a biopsy of the land. 

The samples will then be stored into a self-contained laboratory on the rover, where it’ll be crushed and examined. 

If thiophenes were made as a result of biological processes it is likely it was via bacteria three billion years ago. 

Back then, Mars was warmer and wetter and a more hospitable land where the key chemical reaction to form thiophenes can take place – a reaction called sulfate reduction process that creates thiophenes.

Data from Curiosity has been exhausted and astronomers hope the imminent launch of the Rosalind Franklin rover can shed more light on the chemicals and their origin. 

It will be carrying a Mars Organic Molecule Analyser, or MOMA, which can collect large samples and analyse them without having to destroy them.  

Analysing isotopes – chemical strains that can reveal its history – could help learn more about this potential indicator of life on Mars. 

Dr Schulze-Makuch said: ‘Organisms are “lazy”. They would rather use the light isotope variations of the element because it costs them less energy. 

Yet even if the next rover returns this isotopic evidence, it may still not be enough to prove definitively that there is, or once was, life on Mars.

‘As Carl Sagan said ‘extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”,’ Dr Schulze-Makuch said. 

‘I think the proof will really require that we actually send people there, and an astronaut looks through a microscope and sees a moving microbe.’   

WHAT EVIDENCE DO SCIENTISTS HAVE FOR LIFE ON MARS?

The search for life on other planets has captivated mankind for decades.

But the reality could be a little less like the Hollywood blockbusters, scientists have revealed.

They say if there was life on the red planet, it probably will present itself as fossilized bacteria – and have proposed a new way to look for it.

Here are the most promising signs of life so far –

Water 

When looking for life on Mars, experts agree that water is key.

Although the planet is now rocky and barren with water locked up in polar ice caps there could have been water in the past.

In 2000, scientists first spotted evidence for the existence of water on Mars.

The Nasa Mars Global Surveyor found gullies that could have been created by flowing water.

The debate is ongoing as to whether these recurring slope lineae (RSL) could have been formed from water flow.

Meteorites 

Earth has been hit by 34 meteorites from Mars, three of which are believed to have the potential to carry evidence of past life on the planet, writes Space.com.

In 1996, experts found a meteorite in Antarctica known as ALH 84001 that contained fossilised bacteria-like formations.

However, in 2012, experts concluded that this organic material had been formed by volcanic activity without the involvement of life.

Signs of Life 

The first close-ups of the planet were taken by the 1964 Mariner 4 mission.

These initial images showed that Mars has landforms that could have been formed when the climate was much wetter and therefore home to life.

In 1975, the first Viking orbiter was launched and although inconclusive it paved the way for other landers.

Many rovers, orbiters and landers have now revealed evidence of water beneath the crust and even occasional precipitation.

Earlier this year, Nasa’s Curiosity rover found potential building blocks of life in an ancient Martian lakebed.

The organic molecules preserved in 3.5 billion-year-old bedrock in Gale Crater — believed to have once contained a shallow lake the size of Florida’s Lake Okeechobee — suggest conditions back then may have been conducive to life.

Future missions to Mars plan on bringing samples back to Earth to test them more thoroughly.

Methane 

In 2018, Curiosity also confirmed sharp seasonal increases of methane in the Martian atmosphere.

Experts said the methane observations provide ‘one of the most compelling’ cases for present-day life.

Curiosity’s methane measurements occurred over four-and-a-half Earth years, covering parts of three Martian years.

Seasonal peaks were detected in late summer in the northern hemisphere and late winter in the southern hemisphere. 

The magnitude of these seasonal peaks – by a factor of three – was far more than scientists expected.

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