Ever since the Curiosity first headed out to the Mars on November 26, 2011, the Red Planet rover by NASA has turned into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's primary source of information regarding our nearby planets; now, it has discovered that the fourth planet from the sun has methane.
Following a series of findings like seeing that Mars was able to hold microbial life at some point, plus the fact that there had been a huge lake where the Curiosity first landed, the latest Red Planet rover NASA news tells humankind that Mars' composition has methane in it.
As The Guardian reports, the fact that the Red Planet rover from NASA has discovered methane gas in Mars could potentially mean further discovery of life in the planet. On Earth, this gas comes primarily from the fact that there's life here, but could it mean the same for our nearest planet?
Potentially, the latest Red Planet rover NASA finding could mean that there are microbes or even corpses of extinct insects under the surface of Mars, which could account for the presence of this gas. However, as people across the globe become excited for the news, the fact is that this is only one of the possible explanations for the discovery.
"You need to know a lot more about what's going on right at the source," said Michael New, a scientist from NASA's Washington DC headquarters. "You need to know the context. It's very hard to look at methane alone and say it came from life."
It's not the first time that NASA has stumbled upon methane in Mars, but this is a definite confirmation that the gas is present in the planet. For decades, scientists have claimed that methane is present in the planet, but according to Universe Today, the most recent accounts were when independent research teams' use of sensitive spectrometers here on Earth.
In any case, the Red Planet rover by NASA made the discovery through using the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument, which is a small laboratory instrument built inside the Curiosity to measure the chemical atmosphere in Mars - and, after many samples, the composition suddenly changed to show a significant amount of methane. The announcement was made last Tuesday, according to Space Flight Now.
The ultimate meaning of this discovery will be seen after further investigation, but it's definitely a strong step in the right direction: the planned 2020 Mars rover mission.
