Curiosity Rover Detects Diverse Organics in Ancient Mars Rocks

NASA's Curiosity rover has detected more than 20 diverse organic molecules in ancient Martian rocks, including compounds resembling precursors to life's building blocks on Earth, through an unprecedented chemical experiment conducted on the Red Planet.

The findings, detailed in a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications, stem from an analysis performed in 2020 in the Glen Torridon region of Gale Crater, where the car-sized rover has been exploring since its landing in August 2012. Scientists used the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite to apply tetramethylammonium hydroxide, a reagent that breaks down complex organic materials into detectable fragments. This marked the first time such a technique has been employed on another world, targeting clay-rich sediments known for preserving organic compounds over billions of years despite Mars' harsh radiation.

The experiment revealed a nitrogen-bearing molecule similar in structure to components of DNA, detected for the first time on Mars, as well as benzothiophene, a sulfur-containing compound often carried to planets by meteorites. These organics date back about 3.5 billion years, a period when Mars likely...