(UPDATE) WASHINGTON, D.C.: NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has detected its highest concentrations yet of organic molecules, in a potential signal of ancient microbes that scientists are eager to confirm when the rock samples are eventually brought to Earth. "It is very fair to say that these are going to be, these already are, the most valuable rock samples that have ever been collected," David Shuster, a Perseverance return sample scientist, told reporters during a briefing. Organic molecules — compounds made primarily of carbon that usually include hydrogen and oxygen, but also at times other elements — are not always created by biological processes. The results showed a class of organic molecules called aromatics, which play a key role in biochemistry. There have been other tantalizing clues about the possibility of life on Mars before, including repeated detections of methane by Perseverance's predecessor, Curiosity.

Source: Manila Times September 17, 2022 08:52 UTC