Since arriving at Mars in 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover has drilled into rocks in search of organics - molecules containing carbon. Organics are the building blocks of all life on Earth, though they can also come from non-living sources. The surface of Mars readily destroys these molecules, making them difficult to detect. Now, Curiosity has discovered ancient organics that have been preserved in rocks for billions of years. This finding helps scientists better understand the habitability of early Mars, and it paves the way for future missions to the Red Planet.
Graphics from the NASA-TV broadcast of this discovery are available at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12967 Music provided by Killer Tracks: "Crystalline" by Enrico Cacace & Manuel Bandettini, "Based On True Events" by Eric Chevalier, "Mirrored Cubes" by Laurent Dury, "Lost In The Sky" by Matthews Samar This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12951
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Dan Gallagher
