Curiosity detects nitric oxide on Mars
MAR 25, 2015
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028739
BBC : NASA’s Curiosity rover has detected nitric oxide (NO) in a sample that it extracted from a site in Gale Crater. The gas was released as the rover’s mobile lab pulverized and heated the sample for chemical analysis. If, as the Curiosity team suspects, the nitrogen was originally in the form of nitrates before the sample was heated, the finding could have implications for the presence of life. Nitrogen is the fourth most common element in terrestrial life. Despite its high atmospheric abundance, most terrestrial species require nitrogen to be transformed first into nitrates, a task performed on Earth by soil microbes.
© 2015 American Institute of Physics
