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Has the Mars Rover Sniffed Methane?

First time accepted submitter GrimAndBearIt writes "NASA's Curiosity rover is poised to settle years of debate on the question of atmospheric methane on Mars, which would be a sign of microbial life. With parts per trillion sensitivity, it's not so much a question of whether the rover will be able to smell trace amounts of methane, but rather a question of how much. NASA has announced that Grotzinger's team will discuss atmospheric measurements at a briefing on 2 November. If the rover has detected methane at sufficiently high concentration, or exhibiting temporal variations of the kind that suggests microbial activity, then it will surely motivate a desire to identify and map the sources."

2 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Wow how sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe the methane came from Uranus?

  2. Re:Wow how sad by telchine · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let's wait until we have solid facts

    Mod parent up! Funny!