Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Overview

The Curiosity rover has discovered ancient organic molecules on Mars, embedded within sedimentary rocks that are billions of years old. Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music provided by Killer Tracks: "Crystalline" by Enrico Cacace & Manuel Bandettini, "Based On True Events" by Eric Chevalier, "Mirrored Cubes" by Laurent Dury, "Lost In The Sky" by Matthews Samar Interview sound bites with research scientist and astrobiologist Dr. Jennifer Eigenbrode. Curiosity poses for a self-portrait, along with one of the organic molecules that it discovered. On the ground next to the rover are two small drill holes marking the site of the discovery, in a sedimentary rock named "Mojave 2." Curiosity's SAM instrument discovered thiophene (an organic molecule containing sulfur), shown here with its mass spectrum. The small hydrocarbons that SAM detected are believed to be coming from larger macromolecules, similar to kerogens on Earth. Since arriving at Mars in 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover has drilled into rocks in search of organics – molecules containing carbon. Organics are the building blocks of all life on Earth, though they can also come from non-living sources. The surface of Mars readily destroys these molecules, making them difficult to detect. Now, Curiosity has discovered ancient organics that have been preserved in rocks for billions of years. This finding helps scientists better understand the habitability of early Mars, and it paves the way for future missions to the Red Planet.Learn more about this discovery, or visit NASA's Mars Exploration Program. For an in-depth explanation of the results, watch the NASA-TV broadcast featuring members of the Curiosity science team. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-finds-ancient-organic-material-mysterious-methane-on-mars) Related pages

MOLECULECuriosity has discovered ancient organic molecules in Gale Crater using its SAM instrument.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center SEASONALCuriosity has detected seasonal changes in methane at Gale Crater using its SAM instrument.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech THIOPHENESAM detected the organosulfur compound thiophene by analyzing its mass spectrum. MACROMOLECULEThe small hydrocarbons discovered on Mars are thought to be part of larger macromolecules. AIR INTAKESIntake valves on the side of Curiosity allow SAM to ingest Martian air for analysis. TLSCuriosity detected atmospheric methane with SAM's Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS). TOURA panorama around Gale Crater, the Curiosity rover's location on Mars. ROVER ARMCuriosity moves its arm to drill a sample of a Martian rock. GALE CRATERA panorama of Gale Crater, taken by the Curiosity rover on Mars. SAM ACTIONThis animation shows the SAM instrument in action. CRATER DRYPresent-day Gale Crater, with Curiosity's landing site indicated. CRATER WETGale Crater was the site of a lake on ancient Mars. SAM UNCOVEREDThe Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM) was built at Goddard Space Flight Center. SAM INSTALLTechnicians integrate SAM into the Curiosity rover. HOLESSAM detected ancient hydrocarbons in the "Mojave 2" target rock. ROVERSNASA's Mars 2020 rover and ESA's ExoMars rover will usher in a new era of exploration. GLOBEBeauty shot of Mars rotating. URLSlate with NASA's Mars Exploration Program website and social media information. NASA-TV graphics illustrating Curiosity's findings on Mars, broadcast on June 7, 2018 from Goddard Space Flight Center. All clips are formatted in 1280x720 or higher resolution. Learn more about this discovery. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://mars.nasa.gov/) Related pages

The European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin rover will search for signs of life on Mars, using a NASA-built instrument called MOMA. Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music provided by Killer Tracks: "Fast Motion" by Stephen Daniel Lemaire, "Game Show Spheres 5-6" by Anselm Kreuzer, "Floating" by Ben Niblett & Jon Cotton A model of the MOMA mass spectrometer, with the Rosalind Franklin rover in the background. One of the biggest questions in planetary science is whether life ever arose on Mars, and NASA and the European Space Agency are sending a cutting-edge instrument to the red planet to find out. The Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer, or MOMA, is a sophisticated suite of technologies that squeezes a lab full of chemistry equipment into a package the size of a toaster. MOMA will travel to Mars aboard ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover (formerly ExoMars), where it will search for evidence of past or present life.MOMA will not only search for organic molecules, which make up all life on Earth, it will also analyze their structure using its linear ion trap – the first use of this technology on Mars. Doing so will help scientists to determine whether the molecules could be of biological origin, a significant leap forward in the search for life beyond Earth.MOMA's mass spectrometer subsystem and main electronics were built at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The pulsed UV laser and high-temperature ovens were developed in Germany, and the gas chromatograph in France. The Rosalind Franklin rover is a component of ExoMars, the primary Mars exploration program of the European Space Agency. Learn more at nasa.gov or download animations of MOMA. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/moma) Related pages

There are several possible ways that methane can be created, stored, and released on Mars, including both biological and non-biological pathways. Graphic with main title only Graphic without text This illustration portrays possible ways that methane might be added to Mars' atmosphere (sources) and removed from the atmosphere (sinks). NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has detected fluctuations in methane concentration in the atmosphere, implying both types of activity occur in the modern environment of Mars.A molecule of methane consists of one atom of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen. Methane can be generated by microbes and can also be generated by processes that do not require life, such as reactions between water and olivine (or pyroxene) rock. Ultraviolet radiation (UV) can induce reactions that generate methane from other organic chemicals produced by either biological or non-biological processes, such as comet dust falling on Mars. Methane generated underground in the distant or recent past might be stored within lattice-structured methane hydrates called clathrates, and released by the clathrates at a later time, so that methane being released to the atmosphere today might have formed in the past.Winds on Mars can quickly distribute methane coming from any individual source, reducing localized concentration of methane. Methane can be removed from the atmosphere by sunlight-induced reactions (photochemistry). These reactions can oxidize the methane, through intermediary chemicals such as formaldehyde and methanol, into carbon dioxide, the predominant ingredient in Mars' atmosphere.Learn more about the detection of methane on Mars. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/december/nasa-rover-finds-active-ancient-organic-chemistry-on-mars) Related pages