This week on Mars, Curiosity took its first sniff of Martian air and took a self-portrait, but it found no signs of life.
The Martian rover Curiosity took another step towards understanding Mars by taking her first sniff of the Martian atmosphere to learn more about its composition now - and, perhaps, what it was like centuries ago. It gathered samples of the atmosphere to be measured by its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments, which allow sophisticated analysis of the Martian atmosphere from the rover.
By analyzing the Martian atmosphere, scientists on Curiosity's team hope to understand whether Mars is now, or ever was, capable of supporting life. The tests its conducting now will go a long way towards making those determinations.
"With these first atmospheric measurements we already can see the power of having a complex chemical laboratory like SAM on the surface of Mars," said scientists Paul Mahaffy in a NASA press release. "Both atmospheric and solid sample analyses are crucial for understanding Mars' habitability."
One key element in searching for life on Mars is the presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere As a simple carbon compound, methane is often a precursor to the formation of the complex organic chemicals that make life possible. In its first sniff of the Martian atmosphere, however, Curiosity found virtually no methane present.
"Methane is clearly not an abundant gas at the Gale Crater site, if it is there at all. At this point in the mission we're just excited to be searching for it," said scientist Chris Webster in the release. "While we determine upper limits on low values, atmospheric variability in the Martian atmosphere could yet hold surprises for us."
The low concentration of methane is in line with other studies of the Martian atmosphere performed by other instruments. However, while the lack of methane was disappointing, Curiosity made other findings that have given scientists clues as to what happened to Mars' atmosphere, which is hypothesized to have been thicker in the past. The signs Curiosity has found so far suggest that part of the Martian atmosphere was eventually lost to outer space.
Additionally, while Curiosity was in the "Rocknest" portion of the Gale crater that its exploring, the team took the time to use its cameras to take a "self-portait" of the rover, which you can see above. These self-portraits, apart from just being cool, are important because they help the team monitor the status of the rover in its travels.
(Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science System)
