Curiosity Discovers Biochemically Accessible Nitrogen, Key Ingredient Needed for Martian Life

Curiosity accomplished Historic 1st drilling into Martian rock at John Klein outcrop on Feb 8, 2013 (Sol 182) and discovered a habitable zone, shown in this context mosaic view of the Yellowknife Bay basin taken on Jan. 26 (Sol 169). The robotic arm is pressing down on the surface at John Klein outcrop of veined hydrated minerals – dramatically back dropped with her ultimate destination; Mount Sharp. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Curiosity detected biochemically accessible nitrogen here at John Klein drill site!
Curiosity accomplished historic first drilling into Martian rock at John Klein outcrop on Feb 8, 2013 (Sol 182), and discovered a habitable zone, shown in this context mosaic view of the Yellowknife Bay basin taken on Jan. 26 (Sol 169). The robotic arm is pressing down on the surface at John Klein outcrop of veined hydrated minerals, dramatically back dropped with her ultimate destination; Mount Sharp. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo

Based on data gathered by NASA’s Curiosity rover, researchers now report that the robot has discovered a local source of nitrogen that is “biochemically accessible” and is one of the key ingredients necessary to support the existence of life forms on ancient Mars, if they ever existed.

Finding an indigenous source of nitrogen “has significant implications for the habitability of Mars in the past and present,” Jennifer Stern of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., told AmericaSpace.

Curiosity has detected an indigenous source of nitrogen (N2) in the form of nitric oxide (NO) that was released from the breakdown of nitrate (NO3) during heating of soil and rock sediments, gathered from the surface of Gale crater and carefully analyzed using the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument inside the rover’s belly.

Stern is the lead researcher of a new paper about Curiosity’s SAM results published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science on March 23.

Nitrogen is essential for all known life forms and is one of the main elemental constituents of amino acids, as well as DNA and RNA, the key building blocks of life on Earth that encode the genetic materials that provide the instructions and basis for life.

“Life as we know it, on Earth, needs a source of nitrogen for biomolecules such as amino acids,” Stern elaborated to AmericaSpace.

The nitrogen in nitrate molecules “can be used by living organisms and may indicate the first stage in development of a primitive nitrogen cycle on the surface of ancient Mars and would have provided a biochemically accessible source of nitrogen.”

The Martian sediment samples in which the nitrates were found in the study were scooped up from windblown sand at the “Rocknest” ripple and drilled from mudstone deposits at the “John Klein” and “Cumberland” work sites in Yellowknife Bay during the first year of Curiosity’s mission on the Red Planet.

The SAM results from the two drill sites indicate the presence of the equivalent of up to 1,100 parts per million (ppm) (0.11 wt%) nitrates in the Martian soil.

This time lapse mosaic shows Curiosity maneuvering the robotic arm to drill into her 2nd rock target named “Cumberland” to collect powdery Martian material on May 19, 2013 (Sol 279) for analysis by her onboard chemistry labs; SAM & Chemin. The photo mosaic was stitched from raw images captured by the navcam cameras on May 14 & May 19 (Sols 274 & 279). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo
This time lapse mosaic shows Curiosity maneuvering the robotic arm to drill into her second rock target named “Cumberland” to collect powdery Martian material on May 19, 2013 (Sol 279) for analysis by her onboard chemistry labs; SAM & Chemin. The photo mosaic was stitched from raw images captured by the navcam cameras on May 14 and May 19 (Sols 274 and 279). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

Overall, the new discovery adds significantly to the body of evidence that liquid water once flowed on ancient Mars and was habitable for life.

“By itself, detection of nitrate does not have biological significance. Nitrate however, has significant implications for the habitability of Mars in the past and present,” Stern stated.

This pair of images from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the rock target "Cumberland" before and after Curiosity drilled into it to collect a sample for analysis. The diameter of the drilled hole is about 0.6 inch (1.6 centimeters). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
This pair of images from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity shows the rock target “Cumberland” before and after Curiosity drilled into it to collect a sample for analysis. The diameter of the drilled hole is about 0.6 inch (1.6 centimeters). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Curiosity had already detected the presence of significant amounts of phyllosilicate clay minerals in the sediments gathered by the drill samples at “John Klein” and “Cumberland,” proving that Mars possessed the ingredients necessary for a habitable zone at Yellowknife Bay. The rover also detected some organic molecules.

Based on all the data, the science team says that Yellowknife Bay is a dried out lakebed and that the mudstone deposits formed from sediment deposited at the bottom of a lake inside Gale Crater in the ancient past.

Clay minerals form in more neutral water more conducive to the formation of life compared to the more harshly aqueous acidic environments found in certain other regions investigated on the Red Planet.

“Detection of nitrate at the same site where we also find clay minerals that indicate sustained interaction with liquid water, indicates that nitrogen was available in a form that could be assimilated by biology, should it have been present,” Stern explained.

Nitrate is a source of fixed nitrogen.

How did the nitrate form on Mars?

“We know that atmospheric photochemistry can make nitrate, and this happens on Earth (although on Earth, most nitrate is made via bacterial nitrification).”

“We believe that on Mars, the source of energy to break the triple bond in N2 and ultimately make nitrate is either thermal shock from impacts in the past, or ongoing photochemistry, or a combination of both,” Stern replied.

So the nitrates discovered so far have a non-biological origin from meteorite strikes or lightning eons ago on Mars.

Curiosity Rover snapped this self portrait mosaic with the MAHLI camera while sitting on flat sedimentary rocks at the “John Klein” outcrop where the robot conducted historic first sample drilling inside the Yellowknife Bay basin, on Feb. 8 (Sol 182) at lower left in front of rover. The photo mosaic was stitched from raw images snapped on Sol 177, or Feb 3, 2013, by the robotic arm camera - accounting for foreground camera distortion. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/KenKremer/kenkremer.com
Curiosity Rover snapped this self portrait mosaic with the MAHLI camera while sitting on flat sedimentary rocks at the “John Klein” outcrop where the robot conducted historic first sample drilling inside the Yellowknife Bay basin, on Feb. 8 (Sol 182) at lower left in front of rover. The photo mosaic was stitched from raw images snapped on Sol 177, or Feb 3, 2013, by the robotic arm camera – accounting for foreground camera distortion. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/KenKremer/kenkremer.com

There is no evidence to suggest that the fixed nitrogen molecules found by the team were created by life, notes NASA. And there is no evidence that any life forms—past or present—have been detected on Mars.

“Discovery of indigenous Martian nitrogen in Mars surface materials has important implications for habitability and, specifically, for the potential evolution of a nitrogen cycle at some point in Martian history,” according to the PNAS paper.

“Finding a biochemically accessible form of nitrogen is more support for the ancient Martian environment at Gale Crater being habitable,” says Stern.

So far the team has not found evidence for an complex Earth-like nitrogen cycle in the Yellowknife Bay samples analyzed thus far.

“Despite the fact that these ancient aqueous environments represented by Yellowknife Bay sediments on Mars once had a high potential for habitability, our analysis of these sediments does not support the presence of a complex N cycle analogous to that which drives life on Earth.”

Stern told me that the team is looking for evidence of a biologically related nitrogen cycle on Mars in the form of molecular species, such as ammonium ions (NN4+) and amines.

“To say anything about a more complex nitrogen cycle, and thus, possible cycling of nitrogen by biology, we would have to find other intermediate N species, such as NH4+, which, on Earth, is fixed directly from atmospheric N2 by bacteria, prior to nitrification.”

“We would also need to find more complex N molecules, such as amines, to indicate that nitrogen was being taken up by biological processes.”

To date, none have been found, but that’s part of the ongoing research!

“So far, we have not found these other compounds, but we will keep looking,” Stern said

“Our results suggest that the search for stratigraphic evidence of an ancient martian N [nitrogen] cycle should continue.”

Curiosity investigates a beautiful outcrop of scientifically enticing dark and light mineral veins at ”Garden City” outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp at current location on Mars.   This  photo mosaic was stitched  from Mastcam color camera raw images. Credit:  NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Curiosity investigates a beautiful outcrop of scientifically enticing dark and light mineral veins at ”Garden City” outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp at current location on Mars. This photo mosaic was stitched from Mastcam color camera raw images. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo

As of today, the rover is still investigating a beautiful patch of mineral veins at the Garden City outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp, as outlined in my recent story here.

Mount Sharp is comprised of sedimentary rock layers that record the history of ancient Martian environments and is the primary destination of the mission.

The mountain towers 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) into the Martian sky and dominates the center of the Gale Crater landing site, where Curiosity safely touched down on Aug. 5, 2012.

As of today, Curiosity’s odometer totals over 6.4 miles (10.3 kilometers) since landing inside Gale Crater on Mars in August 2012. She has taken some 226,714 images during over 945 Sols of exploration.

Stay tuned here for continuing updates from Mars and throughout our Solar System!

Ken Kremer

 

Want to keep up-to-date with all things space? Be sure to “Like” AmericaSpace on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: @AmericaSpace

Curiosity's Traverse Map Through Sol 896.  This map shows the route driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity through Sol 896 (Feb. 12, 2015).  Curiosity arrived at this site on Sol 864 (Jan. 11, 2015) and drilled into the Mojave 2 rock target.   The rover departed on Sol 896 for Whale Rock. Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up. The scale bar is 1 kilometer (~0.62 mile). From Sol 862 to Sol 864, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 13.88 feet (4.23 meters). The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.   Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Curiosity’s Traverse Map Through Sol 896. This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity through Sol 896 (Feb. 12, 2015). Curiosity arrived at this site on Sol 864 (Jan. 11, 2015) and drilled into the Mojave 2 rock target. The rover departed on Sol 896 for Whale Rock. Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up. The scale bar is 1 kilometer (~0.62 mile). From Sol 862 to Sol 864, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 13.88 feet (4.23 meters). The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

‘Vide Mater, Sine Manibus’: 30 Years Since Shuttle Mission 51D (Part 2)

New Crew Settles In While Ongoing Research Continues for Expedition 43 on ISS