The Mystery of the Continuously Developing Methane
In August of 2005, it was believed that methane was developing at a rate of 3,000 times higher than previously thought but has been partially destroyed by dust storms. This controversial theory put out the debate of a possible biological origin for the methane existence, even though it is known that the subsurface of volcanism can also account of the methane presence. But the volcano theory was ruled out when in November of 2005, new observations of the Martian atmosphere showed no trace of sulphurous fumes.
Sunlight breaks down methane, and when it was first discovered on Mars it was thought to be a geological process, others felt the methane suggested a past or present life on the red planet. Volcanoes on Earth release methane, but with thousands of times more sulpher dioxide which has a shorter atmospheric lifetime than methane—about two years worth. When the powerful infrared spectrometer at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii was turned on Mars to target sulpher dioxide to prove the volcano theory, none was found through the high-resolution measurements
So—-without volcanoes or geological bases for the development of methane, we need to look to other sources. On our planet Earth, it is known that methane is a by-product of biological activity, continuously needing to be replaced in order to supply fresh gas to replace, that which has been destroyed by oxidation. On Earth, this occurs through biological sources such as peat bogs, rice fields, and the cud-chewing animals. Yet on Mars, we really do not know how much methane is available and how it is distributed. Once this information is found through research and data collection, we will be able to make a statistical analysis and understand where it is concentrated at on red planet. With traces of methane found by NASA and ESA in the early 2000s, it is simply a matter of where this concentration is and what is causing it.
The importance of the methane may be unrecognized by the general public, but for space experts and scientists, the methane find means that it is being produced by an active process that is continuously churning out the methane on Mars—quite possibly certain types of living organisms known as methanogens, which is a microorganism that produces methane from the joint reactions of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Because of the recent finds of methane, it has been proven that Mars is an active planet and worthy of space exploration for human colonization.
This entry was posted on Friday, June 1st, 2007 at 8:08 am and is filed under Mission Objectives, Space Agency News, The Gear to Get There. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
