Ancient Mars meteorites’ organic chemistry cracked – and it’s not alien microbes
Study uncovers geochemical processes that formed organic compounds millions of years ago, at a time when the red planet still had liquid water
A new examination of a million-year-old Mars meteorite has uncovered the chemical reactions that produced the organic compounds found in the rock, which were once thought to be the remnants of Martian microbial life.
The 2kg meteorite fragment was found in Antarctica in 1984. First labelled as a common meteorite, analysis a decade later showed that it contained gases similar to those in Mars’ atmosphere. The consensus is that the rock was blasted away from Mars by a meteor strike 17 million years ago, landing on Earth about 13,000 years ago. The fragment contains rock formed four billion years ago, at a time when there was likely still liquid water on Mars’ surface.