Explanation:
The methane mystery on Mars just got stranger.
New results from
ESA and
Roscosmos'
ExoMars
Trace Gas Orbiter,
has unexpectedly not detected
methane in the atmosphere of Mars.
This result follows the 2013 detection of methane by
NASA's
Curiosity rover, a result seemingly
confirmed by ESA's orbiting
Mars
Express the next day.
The issue is
so interesting because life is a major producer of methane on Earth, leading
to intriguing speculation that some sort of life -- possibly
microbial life -- is creating methane beneath the surface of
Mars.
Non-biological
sources of methane are also possible.
Pictured
is a visualization of the first claimed methane plume over
Mars as detected from Earth in 2003.
The new non-detection of methane by the
ExoMars Orbiter could mean that Mars has some unexpected way of destroying methane,
or that only some parts of Mars
release methane -- and possibly only at certain times.
As the mystery has now deepened,
humanity's
scrutiny of
our neighboring planet's atmosphere will deepen as well.
