NASA’s Mars expedition is no longer the hottest piece of news, as researchers have already been spending some good years to dig deep into the far away land of this planet, to see if life has a chance to develop and grow in shades of red. Mars has a heart of glass, as news come back to Earth, to offer us a sneak peek towards the possibility of human existence growing there.
The newest NASA mission is to discover a way in which life can be supported on Mars, without help from Earth for no less than 500 years. This is not an easy task, not even for the most enlightened minds that work for NASA, hence they launched a public challenge to gather the brightest ideas and see if there can be a starting point for life into the dark territories of Mars.
As the challenge unfolds in the background, waiting for support from outside forces, a team of researchers goes further with unveiling some precious and new discoveries. It seems that recently, glass has been discovered, a valuable clue that may provide other insightful information about the past life on the Red planet.
The recent discovery was made by a team of scientists from Brown University, through the help of satellite data that helped the guys to detect deposits of glass within impact craters on Mars. This is nevertheless a small step in the development structure of the planet, but a giant step forward, towards a delicate window of possibility of a life there.
The analysis performed by Kevin Cannon, Ph.D student at Brown University and Jack Mustard, professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Brown, revealed that glass deposits are present in some ancient and well preserved craters scattered across the surface of Mars. This is a great landmark that opens roads for future explorations, the more so certain findings are massive.
One of the craters containing glass is known under the name of Hargraves and it can be found near a 400 mile long depression that stretches across the Martian surface.
The laboratories have permitted recent discoveries showing that ancient biosignatures can be preserved in impact glass. Organic molecules and plant matter found in glass are formed in earth by an impact that took place millions of years ago in Argentina. Consequently, processes that are similar to this one can offer a realistic sign of life on Mars.
Whether this is just a misleading sign or this is bare truth that awaits for further unveiling, the future will certainly show us, as further analysis will show us if there’s a chance for us to experience life in different shades.
Image Source: smh.com.au
