Curiosity Rover Detects Abnormally High Methane Levels on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover has been exploring the red planet for almost seven years, spending most of its time analyzing the geology and taking selfies. However, it also has some instruments that can detect possible signs of life on Mars. The agency reports that Curiosity just detected an unusually high concentration of methane, a gas that we associate with biological processes.

Curiosity has an instrument called the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM), a tunable laser spectrometer capable of measuring atmospheric composition. Data from last week showed a methane concentration of 21 parts per billion units by volume (ppbv). That’s more than double what NASA might expect to find on a typical Martian day.

The SAM cannot, however, tell us about the origin of that methane. On Earth, many living organisms release methane, including microbial life. That’s why the presence of methane is considered a potential indicator of life. That’s not the only way to produce methane, though. There are geological processes involving water and certain minerals that can also produce methane. Still, the detection was high enough that the Curiosity team has put other experiments on hold to gather additional data.

Something in the air tonight

I detected the largest amount of methane ever during my mission: ~21 parts per billion by volume. While microbial life can be a source of methane on Earth, methane can also be made by interaction between rocks and water. https://t.co/CPEpxsspR2 pic.twitter.com/uk2mjV7OeE

— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) June 23, 2019

Data from Mars shows that methane concentrations cycle seasonally, which may suggest pockets of methane exist below the surface. These reservoirs may be ancient, reflecting past conditions on Mars. Spikes in methane concentration are also common, but the Curiosity team knows very little about what causes them. NASA is currently running more tests to see how the methane concentration changes over time. Whatever Curiosity finds will help us better understand the atmosphere of Mars — a lack of methane could be just as interesting as another high reading. Meanwhile, the ExoMars orbiter has detected almost no methane in the atmosphere during a current test.

While Curiosity can provide us some useful data on methane concentrations, the upcoming Mars 2020 rover will take this work and run (roll) with it. This robot uses the same overall design as Curiosity but will focus more on astrobiology with a suite of instruments keyed to detect biosignatures. It also has more durable wheels that should carry it even farther than Curiosity. This rover could help us determine if life ever existed on Mars or if it still does. Mars 2020 will launch next summer, arriving on Mars in early 2021.

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