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8h ago

NASA-Led Study Finds Nonbiological Sources Fall Short for Curiosity’s Mars Organics

A radiation-based analysis infers the Gale Crater mudstone once contained far higher levels of long-chain molecules than survive after roughly 80 million years of surface exposure.

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Mars Organics Are Hard to Explain Without Life, NASA-Led Study Finds
NASA's Curiosity rover takes a composite selfie on April 8, 2023. Last year, Curiosity found abundant traces of several organic compounds that raised questions about the possibility of life in Mars' history. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Overview

  • Curiosity identified decane, undecane and dodecane in the Cumberland mudstone in 2025 at concentrations of about 30–50 parts per billion.
  • Researchers combined laboratory radiolysis experiments, mathematical modeling and rover data to estimate pre-exposure abundances by effectively rewinding the rock’s radiation history.
  • The analysis infers original concentrations of approximately 120 to 7,700 parts per million of long-chain alkanes or fatty-acid fragments.
  • Known abiotic inputs evaluated—interplanetary dust, meteorites, atmospheric haze fallout, hydrothermal chemistry and serpentinization—cannot, in combination, account for the inferred abundance.
  • The authors emphasize this is not a life detection and call for targeted studies to refine radiation-driven breakdown rates and explore unknown nonbiological pathways, with results published February 4 in Astrobiology.