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Life on Earth is made from cells.

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Cells are surrounded by membranes,
and cell membranes

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contain large organic molecules
called fatty acids.

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Could these building blocks of life
also exist on Mars?

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A new finding by NASA's Curiosity
rover has scientists speculating.

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In 2013, Curiosity collected samples
from a mudstone called “Cumberland,”

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leading to the discovery
of small organic molecules like methane,

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chlorinated hydrocarbons, and thiophene.

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Now, for the first time,
scientists have identified

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long-chain hydrocarbons
within the Cumberland samples,

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the largest organic molecules
yet discovered on Mars.

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Curiosity's onboard chemistry lab, called
SAM for short, detected the hydrocarbons

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by using a new dual-heating process
that was developed after the rover landed.

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Scientists hypothesize
that the long-chain hydrocarbons

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may be byproducts of fatty acids
disintegrated during heating by SAM.

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If even longer hydrocarbon
chains are present

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within the samples,
SAM is not optimized to detect them.

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Instead, scientists
hope to bring material from Mars

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to laboratories on Earth
for more detailed analysis.

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2,300 miles away from Curiosity,
at the site of an ancient lake

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in Jezero Crater,
NASA's Perseverance rover

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is already caching
tantalizing samples for this purpose.

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[Music]