NASA Scientists: Mars Could Have Supported Life

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NASA scientists reported today that ancient Mars could have supported living beings.
CNet reported:

NASA is reporting that an analysis of a rock powder sample collected by the Curiosity rover suggests that ancient Mars could have supported living microbes.

The sample contained traces of sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and carbon — key chemical ingredients for life.

For astronomers, the news constitutes the latest clue in their pursuit of a scientific holy grail: Answering the big question about whether life ever existed on the Red Planet. Their challenge until now has been to confirm whether the Martian atmosphere could have supported a habitable environment. The preliminary evidence now suggests the answer is yes, with the rock samples pointing to evidence that conditions on Mars were once favorable for life. A couple of particularly intriguing clues: The presence of clay as well as the absence of “abundant salt” point to the likely existence of an ancient environment where there was fresh water, according to NASA.

“The range of chemical ingredients we have identified in the sample is impressive, and it suggests pairings such as sulfates and sulfides that indicate a possible chemical energy source for micro-organisms,” Paul Mahaffy, principal investigator of the SAM suite of instruments at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement.

Curiosity drilled the powder from a sedimentary rock near an ancient stream bed in Gale Crater on Mars last month.

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Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016. In 2023, The Gateway Pundit received the Most Trusted Print Media Award at the American Liberty Awards.

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