Space Sciences
Date: March 2019
Source: NASA-JPL
Curiosity Rover, on Mars, has discovered key ingredients that are important for the establishment and sustainability of life as we know it – nitrites (NO2) and nitrates (NO3). Curiosity discovered them in soil and rock samples it took as it traversed the Gale Crater, the site of ancient lakes and groundwater systems on Mars. To understand how fixed nitrogen may have been deposited in the crater, researchers have recreate the early Martian atmosphere here on Earth. The combination of a warm climate with liquid water on the surface and the production of nitrates are key elements which are necessary for life.
Read more at : NASA-JPL