Last week, it was reported in the journal Science that NASA’s Curiosity rover has found complex organic matter on Mars. The findings were made in part using Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument. SAM team member and study co-author Roger Summons recently spoke with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) News about the findings and their relevance to understanding habitability on Mars. Summons in the Schlumberger Professor of Geobiology in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT.

To read the article, visit: http://news.mit.edu/2018/3-questions-roger-summons-finding-organic-matter-mars-0607

The Astrobiology Program was involved in the development of instruments onboard the Curiosity rover, including Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and Chemistry & Mineralogy (CheMin).

For more information on Curiosity, visit: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/missions/msl/