NASA’s Curiosity Finds Mars’ Largest Organic Molecules Yet
1 min read
Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument (SAM) discovered three long-chain hydrocarbons in a Martian mudstone. Decane, undecane, and dodecane are the largest organic molecules yet discovered on Mars, and may be the byproducts of fatty acids that disintegrated during heating by SAM. Credit: NASA/Dan Gallagher
Image credit: NASA / Dan Gallagher. Article by Adrianna Nine. ExtremeTech – March 27, 2025. Research article: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. NASA Article.
Scientists know from extensive study here on Earth that life doesn’t sprout from nothing—it requires a complex (and often mysterious) set of conditions to originate and thrive. It follows, then, that for life to have cropped up on other planets, a slew of specific prebiotic essentials once needed to be in place. NASA researchers are one step closer to determining whether those conditions have ever existed on Mars. […]
Video: Largest Organics Yet Discovered on Mars – NASA Goddard.
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