Greg B

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Methane find on Mars may be sign of life
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
27 March 2004


A strong signal of life on Mars has been detected by scientists at the US National Aeronautics and Space Admin- istration (Nasa) and the European Space Agency.

Each group has independently discovered tantalising evidence of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Methane, a waste product of living organisms on Earth, could also be a by-product of alien microbes living under the surface of the Red Planet.

The detection of methane has been the holy grail of scientists studying the Martian atmosphere, as its presence could provide unequivocal proof that there is life beyond Earth.

Neither Nasa nor the European Space Agency (ESA) has publicly announced the findings, but specialists who have seen the data believe the discovery is genuine - although they are unsure what it means in terms of confirming the presence of life.

The discovery comes weeks after Nasa and ESA announced new findings relating to the presence of huge bodies of water on Mars which could have supported life.

The European effort is led by Vittorio Formisano, of the Institute of Physics and Interplanetary Science in Rome, who operates the methane-detecting spectrometer on board the Mars Express spacecraft orbiting the planet. "We can identify the presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere and we've been able to evaluate how much of it there would be," Professor Formisano said. "Globally, if I average all the data I have, I can find something of the order of 10 or 10.5 parts per billion. It's detectable, but only if I average a lot of data."

Methane is destroyed by the intense ultraviolet radiation on Mars because the gas has a relatively short photochemical lifetime of about 300 years, so if it is present there must be something producing it continually, Professor Formisano said. "[Its presence] is significant and very important. If it is present you need a source," he added.

The second group to detect signals of methane in the Martian atmosphere is led by Michael Mumma of Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, who used powerful spectroscopic telescopes based on Earth.

This team is even believed to have detected variations in the concentrations of methane, with a peak coming from the ancient Martian seabed of Meridiani Planum, which is being explored by a Nasa rover.

This could indicate a subterranean source of methane which is pumping out the gas, either due to some residual geological activity or because of the presence of living organisms producing it as a waste gas.

Asked whether the continual production of methane is strong evidence of a biological origin of the gas, Dr Mumma said: "I think it is, myself personally."

He added: "It's difficult to imagine that primordial methane [from geological activity] would continue outgassing for four billion years [the age of Mars]. This looks very intriguing."

Both teams of scientists are now busy validating their results before their respective organisations are prepared to go public on the implications.
27 March 2004 10:03

=^..^=

it was TURD !

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Greg B

Ha!!! Space Shit!

No, actually, with methane present and spiking as it is it's a strong, strong sign of some form of life there. I wouldn't doubt it. There are far more inhospitable enviroments on Earth than on Mars and life thrives in them.

Deep sea, hot springs, all environments that science says couldn't support life yet sure enough we find life having a ball.

I think there's more to what's going on on Mars than we're ready to deal with.