Jan 15 2009
From The Space Library
NASA announced that a team of NASA and university scientists had achieved the first definitive detection of methane in the Martian atmosphere, confirming that Mars is either biologically or geologically active. Using NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility and the W. M. Keck telescope at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the team had detected three spectral features called absorption lines—a definitive signature of methane. Michael J. Mumma of NASA’s GSFC in Greenbelt, Maryland, lead author of an article in Science Express, explained that the Martian atmosphere quickly destroys methane in a number of ways. According to Mumma, the discovery of substantial plumes of methane in the northern hemisphere of Mars in 2003 indicated that an ongoing process was releasing the gas. The plumes had dispersed, covering the entire planet, and had dissipated within three years. Mumma explained further that the research team did not have enough information to determine whether a biological process, a geological process, or a combination of the two was producing the methane.
NASA, “Discovery of Methane Reveals Mars Is Not a Dead Planet,” news release 09-006, 15 January 2009, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/jan/HQ_09-006_Mars_Methane.html (accessed 14 January 2011); Dan Vergano, “Methane Plumes Spotted on Mars May Be a Sign of Life,” USA Today, 16 January 2009.
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