Drumroll please. The results are in. The rover Curiosity,
equipped with the most sophisticated tools ever sent to the Red
Planet, has returned the initial measurements of the composition
of the Martian atmosphere. And they are ... 1. No methane - at
least not for sure, yet Chris Webster of the NASA Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is the instrument lead for
SAM Tunable Laser Spectrometer. He promised attendees of
Friday's press call that he would answer the question
eventually. But the bombshell was delivered in one sentence: "We
have no definitive detection of methane." This is perhaps a
disappointment for anyone who thought signs of life would come
this early in Curiosity's two-year mission. Curiosity is using
the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM) to help scientists
probe the atmosphere. Methane gas could be a key indicator of
the planet's habitability. About 90% to 95% of the methane in
Earth's atmosphere is biologically derived, said Sushil Atreya,
a University of Michigan researc