NASA may have to dig deeper for evidence of life on Mars

NASA scientists suggest that Mars rovers may need to dig deeper to find evidence of ancient life on the planet.

A recent research carried out by the team found that the sun's rays degrade small molecules more quickly than expected. Scientists are trying to prove that there was life on Mars.

Alexander Pavlov of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland said that the results suggest that the asteroids destroyed the amino acids in the martian surface rocks. The current Mars rover missions drill down to 2 inches. It would take 20 million years to destroy all the amino acids.

Since scientists are looking for evidence of life on Mars from billions of years ago when the planet was more similar to Earth, the material collected from these shallow depths may not be as useful as first thought. Mars lost its protection billions of years ago due to Earth's thick atmosphere and magnetic field. Liquid water was found on the red planet when it had a thicker atmosphere. NASA said that scientists want to know if life emerged on Mars and search for evidence of ancient martian life by examining Mars rocks.

According to the findings of the scientists, martian rock samples will need to be taken from a depth of about 6 feet.

As NASA's Perseverance rover can only drill down a few inches, the team behind the current Mars mission will have to come up with a new strategy for the rover.

The scientists suggest taking samples from outcrops that are less than 10 million years old and from material ejected from craters.

The space agency says that meteorites, including one from the red planet, contain amino acids, which haven't been found on Mars. Several straight-chain amino acids were identified in the meteorite that NASA believes originated on Mars. Since meteorites from Mars typically get ejected from depths of at least 3.3 feet one meter or more, it is possible that the amino acids in RBT could have been protected.

The current Mars mission has not yet responded to the findings. Scientists can analyze the material in cutting-edge laboratories after Perseverance has collected a number of samples. The team may change the location of the rover.

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