Ancient Mars May Have Been More Habitable Than We Thought

Nasa discovers hint of life on Mars: live

Is there life on Mars? Nasa thinks there might be, after its Curiosity Rover discovered spikes of methane, a gas usually produced by living organisms - follow latest news updates

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6.55pm: The methane readings were taken by the Curiosity rover which has been on Mars since 2012.
6.50pm: Curiosity has been exploring Mars’ Gale Crater, a 96 mile wide depression caused by an asteroid strike, since 2012.

Previous satellite observations have detected unusual plumes of methane on the planet, but none as extraordinary as the sudden "venting" measured at the crater.

The new discovery, reported in the journal Science, came from gas samples by Curiosity's Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TAS), an instrument that uses intense light to carry out chemical analysis.

The low background level of methane can be explained by the Sun's rays degrading organic material possibly deposited by meteors, said the Nasa scientists

But the readings in a 300 metre squared area spiked 10-fold over a period of just 60 Martian days.

6.45pm Read about the full discovery here. Earlier I spoke to Dr Dr Paul Mahaffy at Nasa.

Quote What is interesting is that these spikes of methane are coming and going. They are transient.At the moment we can’t really tell anything, but these burps are intriguing. We have to keep an open mind.

6.40pm: Methane can be generated by biology of geology. Rocks containing minerals which are common on Mars would interact with water and produce methane. Microbes also produce methane in their metaboloic process.

6.35pm: Nasa is holding its press conference announcing the methane discovery.

Quote It's not an argument that we have found evidence of life on Mars, but it's one of the hypotheses that we must conisder as we go forward into the future.This is really exciting news for us."

Nasa spokesman

6.30pm Since William Herschel spotted polar ice caps on Mars in the mid 17th century, astronomers have speculated that life could exist on a planet which seemed so similar to Earth.

But when probes began to beam back images of a barren wasteland in the 1960s and Viking 1 failed to find organic chemicals in 1976, hopes faded.

Now, however Nasa believes it has found the first hint that life could exist on The Red Planet.

Intriguing ‘burps’ of methane has have been recorded by the Curiosity Rover which may have been produced by bacteria. Most methane on Earth is produced as a waste gas by living organisms.

Curiosity has previously found water bound in the fine soil of Mars, believed to be crucial to life. But if the existence of living, breathing microbes is confirmed, it will be the first evidence of life outside Earth.