CTVNews.ca Staff Published Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 10:47AM EST Last Updated Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 2:35PM EST<\/p>\n
The Mars Curiosity rover has analyzed samples of Martian soil for the first time and found compounds of water, sulfur and chlorine-containing substances, NASA said Monday, providing a more grounded update of the planets exploration after weeks of speculation and rumours. <\/p>\n
The team stressed that while the rovers tools had detected organic compounds, it had not yet determined if the compounds were of Martian origin. <\/p>\n
We have no definitive detection of Martian organics at this point, but we will keep looking in the diverse environments of Gale Crater,\" said team member Paul Mahaffy. <\/p>\n
Members of the space agencys Curiosity team made the announcement during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. <\/p>\n
The samples were collected from the Rocknest region by Curiositys arm and brought inside the rover to an analytical laboratory. <\/p>\n
After the samples were collected, they were heated in a tiny oven. As gases were released, the Sample Analysis at Mars suite analyzed the substances and checked for organic compounds carbon-containing chemicals that can be ingredients of life. <\/p>\n
The rovers detection of the compounds is a sign that the rover and all its tools are working well, said John Grotzinger, the lead scientist on the team. <\/p>\n
The instrument SAM is working perfectly well it has made this detection of organic compounds, simple organic compounds; we just simply dont know if theyre indigenous to Mars or not, he said. Its going to take some time to work through that. <\/p>\n
What weve got is a globally representative material on Mars that turns out to be a rich repository of environmental process and history. <\/p>\n
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NASA set to make announcement about Mars mission<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CTVNews.ca Staff Published Monday, Dec. Continue reading