Martian soil turns up toxic chemical

NASA's Phoenix Lander team said this week it has found a toxic chemical in the soil of Mars' northern hemisphere, where it has previously confirmed the existence of water.

The University of Arizona-based team believes the chemical is perchlorate, an oxidant typically used in solid rocket fuel. The scientists are still analyzing the soil sample to make sure it wasn't brought to Mars from Earth, according to a statement. But if the oxidant is native, it would bar the possibility of life there.

"While we have not completed our process on these soil samples, we have very interesting intermediate results," Peter Smith, Phoenix's principal investigator at the University of Arizona, said in a statement. "Initial...analysis suggested Earth-like soil. Further analysis has revealed un-Earthlike aspects of the soil chemistry."

According to a report from CNN, the Viking 1 and 2 lander missions in the 1970s found oxidants in the soil that led many scientists to believe there could be no life on Mars.

[compudoc318]

"if the oxidant is native, it would bar the possibility of life there"???? how do we know that for sure, we still havent found life outside earth yet, and if were looking for life to be earth like, then we wont find anything for a long time.......think outside the bun......lol

[Galaxy5]

If I may suggest....the following statement is a little misleading:

"believes the chemical is perchlorate, an oxidant typically used in solid rocket fuel."

Perchlorate is a salt; a chemical compound that can be found in nature or synthesized for use as part of solid propellant systems, among thousands of other industrial uses. While there's certainly a possibility that the lander was somehow contaminated by perchlorates, it seems almost impossible that the soil was contaminated by the lander.

To quote the wiki:

"The source of the perchlorate has not yet been evaluated fully, and may represent possible extra-Martian (Earth-sourced) contamination via the Phoenix lander itself. This is however unlikely since the Phoenix used ultrapure hydrazine for its retro rockets, and the perchlorate was found below the surface and at concentrations higher than would be expected from contamination during Earth launch operations. [14]"

[Magicland]

So what if the lander landed in a Martian "Superfund" waste site? Maybe long ago the area was used by the Martians to launch the rockets that they left Mars on? Not that that's what happened, but I can dig in a lot of schoolyards in the US and find contaminants that would preclude life on earth.

[wcoffey81]

if someone were to send a probe to earth, to take soil samples, what do you think the chances are that they would come back clean?
things that we deem toxic, such as lead, asbestos and uranium come right from good old mother nature and that is a VERY condensed list. a lot of people forget this fact or choose to ignore it and blame mankind for all of the evils.
what we have done, is an excellent job of spreading them around, mixing them in combinations and leaving things for others to clean-up. so for us to send a probe to mars and find soil contamination should not come as a surprise at all.

I agree with compudoc318...They should always use the term "Life as we know it". Because, we know lots of things as humans, but we don't know everything!!!!

[frank bruce]

"The University of Arizona-based team believes the chemical is perchlorate"
Something is missing, Perchlorate (CLO4-) mixes with something else, saying they found CLO4 in the soil is just part of the equation. They found Perchlorate of...?

[k2dave]

I don't know, but I think it's the testing method they are using. I believe they are heating up the sample and testing the components as they break down. It's like taking a picture, turning it into a jigsaw puzzle - you have the pieces, but now have to put it all together.

[ReVeLaTeD]

It was likely Hydrogen Perchlorate, if it's a regular byproduct of rocket fuel.

[oneoclock]

So they found one substance in one spot on Mars ... what makes them think the same substance will be in every other spot on Mars, too? How naive to draw generalisations from such a tiny sample out of such a huge data set.

[51Trails]

First, thank you all for adding relevant and intelligent seemingly common sense comments!

It would seem to be incredibly arrogant of us to believe that we (humans) can have ANY idea of what would/could sustain another life form. We're still finding things out about those of us on this planet, let alone know anything about life anywhere else...

Thank you for the information on Perchlorate and breaking down the fact that we haven't explored the source.

Interesting stuff any way you slice it!

[Get_Bent]

Change "toxic to life" to "toxic to Earth life". There could be Martian microbes that eat perchlorate for breakfast.

[loki_42]

To those chastising the "naive" scientists for assuming too much from one sample, think for a moment. Reporters NEVER correctly state what they hear. They translate what they here through the filter of what they thought they heard and what that got edited to.

I doubt the scientists said that the contaminant was from rocket fuel. Just that the substance can be used in the manufacture of rocket fuel. They surly know that perchlorate is a salt, and that their own lander does not use perchlorate. Next, they also know that finding it in one spot does not mean it is everywhere. BUT, the odds that they happened to land on a rare patch is INCREDIBLY slight. That coupled with the previous findings by the Viking probes means that it is probably very common wherever you look. Not everywhere per se, but probably common. Lastly, I am sure they are well aware that life can take on other forms, but they are looking for life in familiar forms at the moment, which is what would start to be ruled out.

[nosferatu_72]

sounds to me like the government want to find any excuse nessary to lower the budget of N.A.S.A. scientists only say what the gov. allows them to say....of course there was life on mars there are to many chemical compounds already found and the fact that water flowed on the planet. we as a species are so ignorant to the fact that there has to be life everywhere in the universe if there was'nt we would not exist.

[contentcreator--2008]

Despite the potential implications for native life, the existence of an oxidizer may be good news for earth-based lifeforms --- namely, it might be a local source of oxygen for inhabited domes or to supply fuel for lightweight return-to-earth vehicles.

[fdunn3]

Have they taken into consideration the countless spacecraft sent from earth that have crashed into the martion surface?

[wkcole]

The presence of perchlorate salts does not preclude even earth-like life. Humans who like a working thyroid shouldn't be chowing down on the Martian soil, but there are plants and microbes that survive significant levels of perchlorate salts in the soil in very dry places like the Atacama desert.

Perchlorate may actually argue for past Martian life because it implies that there once was free oxygen in the atmosphere, which is hard to model without life. It also offers an interesting potential for how Martian soil microbes might survive today, using perchlorate as a metabolic oxydizer.

[rangers641]

If there are toxins in the martian surface, i think we should begin evaluating how we could use this to terraform the planet. Maybe send millions of robots to turn the soil and release greenhouse gases into the martian atmosphere by burning off the perchlorate. Just a thought.