The research team found a nitrogen-containing organic material in a Martian meteorite. Because carbonate minerals typically precipitate from groundwater, this finding suggests that 4 billion years ago, Mars was rich in organic matter, could be suitable for life and favorable for life.
Despite the fact that recent studies of the Rover have revealed convincing evidence for the existence of Martian organics, little is known about where she came from, how old she is, how widely it is spread and preserved, and what is its possible link with biochemical activity.
In the study of Mars is a particularly important one meteorite, named Allan Hills (ALH) 84001 after the region in Antarctica where it was found in 1984. It contains carbonate minerals orange, which are the sediment of salty liquid water from the surface of Mars. Because these minerals record early water environment of Mars, many studies have tried to understand their unique chemistry and can serve as proof of the existence of ancient life 4 billion years ago.
However, the previous tests were not accurate because of contamination with terrestrial material from the Antarctic snow and ice, making it difficult to determine how much organic material in the meteorite was really a Martian. In addition to carbon, nitrogen is an important element of life. However, due to previous technical limitations it was not measured in ALH84001.
In the new work were used the most modern analytical techniques to study the nitrogen content in the carbonates of ALH84001, and now the team is confident that they have found the first evidence of 4-billion Martian organics with the nitrogen content.
These findings indicate that Mars had organic nitrogen before it became the red planet we know today. Early Mars may have been more earthly, moist and rich in organic matter. He might even have been blue.
