First Martian soil analysed but no organics, yet

The Mars rover Curiosity has analysed its first samples of Martian soil using all of its instruments, including the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) and ChemMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy) components, NASA announced. The rover scooped several samples of soil from the surface in Gale Crater, targeting a drift of windblown dust and sand which has been named Rocknest.

No organic compounds were found at this stage, although the team will direct Curiosity to other sites in the crater for more tests. The ChemMin module detected the presence of bound water in the grains of sand which were identified as a roughly equal mixture of common volcanic minerals and non-crystalline materials like glass. The deuterium-to-hydrogen ratios of this water released by heating the sand showed that there is a higher proportion of D to H than on Earth. This result was expected because Mars is slowly losing its atmosphere, with the lighter H atoms being lost faster than the D atoms.

The presence of perchlorate was also tentatively identified, which is consistent with observations made by the earlier Phoenix lander.

Building on the success of this mission, NASA has just announced a multi-year Martian exploration program, which will include a new rover set to launch in 2020.

Image courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS