Early Life on Mar Curiosity Rover Discovere Organic Molecules on Mars: Study

Curiosity Rover

Thiophenes are organic compounds that are found on Earth. On Earth they are found in Crude oil, Coal, Mushroom,White truffles and Wild Pigs.

On MARS Thiophenes were discovered recently.Astrobiology Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University believe presence of Thiophenes would be consistent with presence of Early Life on Mars.

Jacob Heinz from Technische Universitat in Berlin with Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University have explore some of the possible pathways for theiophenes origins on Mars and this is published in the journal Astrobiology. This Study Suggests bacteria's biological process is involving rater than Truffle though, may have played a role in the organic compound's presence in the Mars soil.

"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."

Thiophene is a heterocyclic compound with the formula C4H4S. Consisting of a planar five-membered ring, it is aromatic as indicated by its extensive substitution reactions. ... Compounds analogous to thiophene include furan (C4H4O) selenophene (C4H4Se) and pyrrole (C4H4NH), which each vary by the heteroatom in the ring.Thiophene molecules have four carbon atoms and a sulfur atom arranged in a ring, and both carbon and sulfur, are bio-essential elements. Yet Schulze-Makuch and Heinz could not exclude non-biological processes leading to the existence of these compounds on Mars.

Molecular structure and the atom numbering for thiophene

So how Thiopenes can be created on mars? The possible abiotic explanation Thiopenes can also be created with thermochemical sulfate reduction, in the process set of compounds are heated to 248 degrees Fahrenheit or 120 degrees Celsius.

Another way Thiopenes can be created on mars is with biological process.In biological process it is believed that bacteria could have facilitated a sulfate reduction process that results in Thiophenes.But there are no singe or life on mars now so how can biological process be possible? It is believed that some three billion years ago a time when Mars was warmer bacteria may have existed.

For now Curiosity Rover have provided many clues, By using a techniques that break larger molecules into components, by looking at result we can understand whats going-on.

It is expected that next rover my launch in July 2020.And will bring more evidence and this new rover will bring more detailed evidence.It will be carrying a Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer, or you can call it MOMA, this will uses a less destructive analyzing method by collection of large molecules.

Yet this new rover will bring much evidence, about  it may still not be enough evidence to prove that if there is or once was life on Mars.

"As Carl Sagan said 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,'" 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."