CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Last week, NASA’s Curiosity rover discovered high amounts of methane in the air on Mars, leading to excitement whether this was an indication of life on the Red Planet, or beneath its surface.

Detailed explanation-2: -History of detections The first evidence of methane in the atmosphere was measured by ESA’s Mars Express orbiter with an instrument called the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer. In March 2004, the Mars Express science team suggested the presence of methane in the atmosphere at a concentration of about 10 ppbv.

Detailed explanation-3: -The rover investigated the crater floor and found evidence of igneous, or volcanic, rock. During its second campaign to study the delta over the past five months, Perseverance has found rich sedimentary rock layers that add more to the story of Mars’ ancient climate and environment.

Detailed explanation-4: -Finding methane in the Martian atmosphere could reveal that similar processes are occurring underground on the Red Planet. Curiosity first sniffed methane on Mars on June 15, 2013. Since then it has found that background levels vary between 0.2 and 0.7 parts per billion in volume (ppbv).

Detailed explanation-5: -The process of creating methane-based fuel has been theorized before, initially by Elon Musk and Space X. It utilized a solar infrastructure to generate electricity, resulting in the electrolysis of carbon dioxide, which, when mixed with water from the ice found on Mars, produces methane.