New research shows that Meteorite ALH84001 does not contain any traces of life

At least for the first time Mars samples Locked on the red planet, we will wait at least a few more years, scientists have more than 100 meteorites that reached Earth by natural means. Although it is not as valuable as uncontaminated source material, it still provides a lot of valuable information.

One of them is the one discovered by Alan Hills in 1984 in Antarctica, which scientists believe formed on the surface of Mars about 4 billion years ago. ALH84001Because that’s what we’re talking about, right from the start it sparked a lot of discussion, mainly because after a 1996 NASA study, it was announced that it contained traces of organic carbon, which was supposed to be evidence of life on Mars. .

It is true that some of the scientific community did not agree with this theory at the time, but it took a long time before we saw research that refutes it. Finally it happened, the authorship analysis was published in Science Andrew Stella From the Carnegie Institution for Science, which notes that the organic components of the meteorite are the result of … water, a process similar to that that occurs on Earth.

According to the author, this is underground water Flowing through the fissures of the meteorite, while it was still on Mars, it formed clusters of carbon that we had earlier wrongly assumed as evidence of life.

Similar phenomena can occur on Earth and may also help explain the presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Andrew Steele suggests that the explanation is at least NASA It was reasonable at the time of its creation, it was technological advances that allowed his team to make more accurate analyzes and measurements.

The discovery itself, in his opinion, is crucial to understanding how Life originated on our planetSo we can put the techniques needed to look for it elsewhere.

Interestingly, they disagree with the new theory Original NASA Research Authors In 1996 he described the new analysis as “disappointing” and insisted on its findings:

How do you know if there is life on Mars? Be patient and wait for the samples collected by the rover determinationwhich must be delivered to our laboratories within 10 years.