After NASA scientists announced they found the “building blocks” for life on Mars in June, some researchers suggest the organic molecules might have actually been found over 40 years ago — and NASA spacecrafts accidentally burned them.
Viking landers sent to Mars in 1976 to search for organic matter reported finding nothing, a conclusion that shocked scientists at the time. New research published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, suggests the Vikings’ main instrument might have actually discovered the organic matter but burned it while collecting soil samples, an article in New Scientist notes.
The primary instrument on the Viking landers, a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer, used heat to try and find these molecules. That was big a mistake. Because of a now-known chemical in the soil perchlorate, the landers would have destroyed any organics in the process. NASA’s Phoenix lander found perchlorate on Mars in 2008, Space.com notes.
“You get some new insight, and you realize that everything you thought was wrong,” Chris McKay, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center involved in the research, told New Scientist.
a dib markii saynisyahannada NASA ay ku dhawaaqeen “dhismooyinka” ee nolosha ee Mars bishii June, cilmi-baarayaashu waxay soo jeedinayaan in maaddooyinka organic-ka laga yaabo in la helay 40 sano ka hor – iyo NASA dukaamada ay u gaysteen iyaga oo si khatar ah u gubay.
Dadka reer Viking waxaa loo diray Mars 1976 si loo raadiyo arrin bini aadaminimo ah oo la sheegay in aysan waxba ka helin, gabagabayn in cilmibaadayaasha naxdinta leh waqtigaas. Cilmi-baaris cusub oo lagu daabacay Joornaalada cilmi-baarista cilmi-baarista cilmi-baarista, waxay muujinaysaa in Vikingings-ka ugu weyn ee laga yaabo in ay dhab ahaantii soo ogaadeen arrinta jidhka ah laakiin gubay iyadoo la ururinayo shay-baarka ciidda, maqaal uu qoray wargayska New Scientist.
Qalabka aasaasiga ah ee dadka reer Viking, gaas chromatograph-mass spectrometer, kuleylka loo isticmaalo si loo isku dayiyo loona helo molecules kuwaas. Taasi waxay ahayd qalad weyn. Sababtoo ah kiimiko hadda la yaqaan oo ku jira ciidda perchlorate, dhulal-yare ayaa burburin lahaa waxkasta oo nuucaas ah. NASA ee dhulka phoenix ayaa laga helay mishiinka Mars 2008, Space.com notes.
“Waxaad helaysaa aragti cusub, waxaadna ogtahay in wax kasta oo aad u maleynaysay inay khaldan yihiin,” ayuu Chris McKay, oo ah cilmi-baare ku takhasusay qorshaha cilmi-baarista ee Ames Research Centre ee cilmi-baarista, ayaa u sheegay New Scientist.
