Asteroid Bombardment, Hydrogen Make Great Recipe for Life on Mars
(World News Science)

A new study reveals asteroid impacts on ancient Mars could have produced key ingredients for life if the Martian atmosphere was rich in hydrogen. An early hydrogen-rich atmosphere on Mars could also explain how the planet remained habitable after its atmosphere thinned. The study used data from NASA`s Curiosity rover on Mars and was conducted by researchers on Curiosity`s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument team and international colleagues. These key ingredients are nitrites (NO2-) and nitrates (NO3-), fixed forms of nitrogen that are important for the establishment and sustainability of life as we know it. Curiosity discovered them in soil and rock samples it took as it traversed...