Mars may still harbour life despite Nasa's claim that there are unlikely to be microbes beneath the red planet's surface
- Curiosity rover has found no sign of methane, which is produced by life
- Robot has spent a year on red planet scanning its surface and atmosphere
- Robert Zubrin claims inability to find methane may be because rover has only explored a relatively small area
A leading scientist has said that life may still exist on Mars, despite Curiosity Rover’s inability to find methane gas on the planet’s surface.
The president of the Mars Society, Robert Zubrin, told CNET that methane- a gas produced by living things- may still exist because the rover has only analysed a relatively small area of the red planet.
Last week, Nasa said that it was unlikely that microbes capable of producing the gas were living below the planet's surface after Curiosity failed to find the gas.
The president of the Mars Society, Robert Zubrin, has said that methane- a gas produced by living things-
may still exist because the Curiosity rover (pictured) has only analysed a relatively small area of the red planet
But Mr Zubrin criticised Nasa’s lack of direction claiming that the space agency ‘doesn’t have a goal’.
The criticism follows a discussion of Curiosity Rover’s findings presented at the European Planetary Science in London earlier this month.
The conference highlighted some of Curiosity’s most brilliant finds before the rover began its journey to Mount Sharp in July.
Data collected by the Curiosity rover at this time suggested the red planet's atmosphere once had more oxygen in it than Earth, giving serious weight to the theory it could have previously harboured alien life.
In July, data collected by the Curiosity rover suggested the red planet's atmosphere once had more oxygen in it than Earth
CURIOSITY BY NUMBERS
- The rover's top speed is 1.5 inches per second
- Curiosity is the fourth rover to visit Mars
- It took around seven minutes to land on Mars
- The rover is fitted with 17 cameras
- It weighs about the same as a Mini Cooper at approximately 1,982 pounds
- Scientists considered 60 possible landing sites before deciding on Gale Crater
A team of Nasa scientists said that a change in the
ratio of two different kinds of argon gas was evidence that the atmosphere has been stripped away.
Nasa's Dr Chris Webster said: 'As Mars became a planet and its magma ocean solidified, catastrophic outgassing occurred while volatiles were delivered by impact of comets and other smaller bodies.
'Solar wind, and the possible impact by a Pluto-sized body is thought to have stripped much of the initial early atmosphere from the planet, and since then the atmosphere has developed as a balance between volcanic injection and loss to space.'
Only a month earlier, powerful evidence that water good enough to drink once flowed on Mars was found by the ageing vehicle.
Evidence of water on Mars had previously been indicated by a succession of discoveries- but all had suggested flows of sulphuric acid.
This was the first time water has been found in a form that is likely to be drinkable.
Scientists also discovered pebbles on Mars, showing that a stream had flowed on the planet.
The rounded pebbles could only have formed when they were carried through water over long distances, according to researchers.
Scientists had previously discovered pebbles on Mars, showing that a stream has flowed on the planet
- giving more weight to the theory that it was once able to support life
In April, the $2.5 billion rover found evidence that as much as 90 per cent of the original atmosphere there had dissipated into space over the planet's lifetime.
Curiosity also revealed further details of its life on the surface - with evidence of dust storms and whirlwinds.
The conference focused heavily on a the Tintina pebble crushed under the Curiosity Mars rover's wheels which split open to reveal a dazzling white interior - a sign that it contained hydrated minerals, formed when water flowed through it.
Curiosity is now on a long journey to Mount Sharp, which rises 3.4 miles into the Martian sky from Gale Crater's center.
The rover will take monthly readings of the Martian atmosphere during the road trip, expected to last almost a year
'Curiosity rover can do all kinds of things. It could find fossils. It has imaging capability, a telescope for microorganisms,' said Mr Zubrin in his interview with CNET.
'Maybe a puff of methane will come and it will be detected later. There's lot for Curiosity to look for.'
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