Observations from two separate spacecraft have confirmed the presence of methane on Mars , indicating there may have been life on the Red Planet at one point and spotlight the possibility that the planet may be able to support human life .
write inNature Geoscience , researcher think that an ice sheet east of Gale Crater – believed to be a dry - up lake – is the most likely seed of methane on the major planet .
" This is very exciting and largely unexpected , " Marco Giuranna , from Rome ’s National Astrophysics Institute , told AFP .
" Two completely independent line of investigation pointed to the same general area of the most probable source for the methane . "
In June 2013 , the Mars Express investigation operated by the European Space Agency mensurate 15.5 parts per billion in the atmosphere above the Gale Crater . The presence of methane in the sphere was then confirmed by NASA ’s Curiosity rover within 24 hours . To test whether the disputatious determination were legitimate , researchers divide the region around the crater into 250 by 250 square kilometre grid and ran a million electronic computer - sit emissions scenario for each section . Meanwhile , another team contemplate images of the surface of Mars to liken it with like feature article on Earth where methane is released . They found the most potential perpetrator was flash-frozen methane beneath a rock candy formation .
Methane is a of course occurring gas that is the by-product of organic processes , like animals digest food or humans farting . Though it is a major indication of life on Earth , it does n’t necessarily indicate grounds of something similar on Mars – though its discovery is promise .
" Methane is authoritative because it could be an indicant of microbial life history . But life is not involve to excuse these detections because methane can be produce by abiotic processes , ” explain Giuranna .
" Though not a direct biosignature of life , methane can contribute to the habitableness of martian configurations , as certain type of bug can employ methane as a source of C and energy . ”
Just last year , researchers with the National Institute of Astrophysics in Romereportedfinding a huge reservoir of water resembling a subglacial lake on Earth below the south pole on Mars .
