Carbon from Martian Meteorites Not Evidence of Life
The findings provide insight into the chemical processes taking place on Mars and will help aid future quests for evidence of ancient or modern Martian life.
Carbon in some Martian meteorites came from Mars but not from life on Mars, according to new research from an international team that includes a University of Arizona geoscientist.
Molecules containing large chains of carbon and hydrogen – the building blocks of all life on Earth – have been the targets of missions to Mars from Viking to the present day.
Scientists have disagreed about how the organic carbon found in meteorites from Mars was formed and whether or not it came from Mars. (more…)