Since the historic landing of NASA's Curiosity rover in the Martian Gale Crater in August 2012, his work and study of Martian soil have repeatedly forced scientists to seriously think about the fact that at some point in history this seemingly completely lifeless planet could have been present. a life. The work done by other rovers has led scientists to similar conclusions: all evidence points to the fact that once there was a "wet era" on Mars, within which life, even microbial, could exist.
The recent discovery of Curiosity only adds weight to these claims. The rover explored various rocks and stones located on an elevated area (about 200 meters) of the surface of Gale Crater, whose age, according to preliminary estimates, may be from tens to hundreds of millions of years. According to the findings, during this period of the history of the Red Planet, the environment of the crater, which was once a Martian lake, was constantly changing. But it did not change so much that it was possible to completely exclude the possibility of life here.
After analyzing soil samples, Curiosity found traces of boron. This is the first time in history that this element has been discovered on the Red Planet.
“We are seeing a chemical composition that points to a long and interactive history associated with water. And the level of complexity of this composition increases the likelihood of the planet's habitability in the past,”says John Grotsinger, a Curiosity participant and geologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, USA.
"The discovered boron, hematite and clay minerals indicate the mobility of elements and electrons in the past and suggest the possible presence of life on this planet in the past."
Based on the data collected by Curiosity, scientists conclude that the ancient lake, which later became Gale Crater, could initially contain fresh water (water with a neutral pH). Over time, the water in the lake slightly acidified, and later became salty. All this happened over several million years. During this time, the lake was filled and dried up several times under the influence of the movement of groundwater. Despite all the changes it has experienced, Grotsinger believes that the area is still largely habitable, as some of the microbial life found in the lake may have been supported by groundwater during dry periods.
If conditions on ancient Mars were more similar to those on Earth, then there is a high probability that life could exist on it. The abundant traces of Curiosity found in Martian soil samples of silica, an excellent indicator for the presence of microbial life on Earth, may in turn only further increase our desire to conduct a manned exploration mission to Mars.
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“I think this is just a fantastic discovery,” says Grotsinger.
Maybe not next time, but after several regular unmanned missions and landings of new rovers, we will actually fly to Mars.
This image depicts the same terrain of Martian Gale Crater at two time intervals: now and billions of years ago. Groundwater, as well as surface water in the form of ancient rivers and lakes, would provide excellent conditions for microbial life
NIKOLAY KHIZHNYAK