Washington, Dec 4:

NASAs Mars rover Curiosity has found tantalising clues that life may have once existed on the Red planet, but scientists said it was too early to make much of the first soil analyses.

Scientists found traces of carbon in several compounds detected by the rovers Sample Analysis at Mars instrument.

They, however, do not yet know if the carbon a key building block for life is contamination from Earth, was delivered to Mars by organicsrich asteroids, or arose on Mars itself.

The carbon, if indigenous, could be an indicator of geologic or biological activity, the Discovery News reported.

Were not really sure of where it comes from right now, the missions lead scientist John Grotzinger said during the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco.

Just finding carbon somewhere doesnt mean that it has anything to do with life, or the finding of a habitable environment, he said.

Life, as we know, needs three basic ingredients to evolve water, a energy source and carbon. Other building blocks include sulphur, oxygen, phosphorous and nitrogen.

Curiosity, which is four months into a planned two-year mission on Mars, already has turned up evidence that its landing spot on the floor Gale Crater, was once covered in water, the report said.

Minerals in the soil analysis also show a history of chemical interaction with water. Curiosity contains an on-board chemistry laboratory to find possible ingredients for microbial life, the environments that could have supported it and places where life could have been preserved.

Original post:

NASA’s Curiosity rover finds whiff of possible life on Mars