Curiosity Finds Seven Organic Molecules in Martian Clay

NASA's Curiosity rover team discovered seven organic molecules, including sulfur-bearing benzothiophene, preserved in clay from a dried lakebed over 3.5 billion years old in Gale Crater. The find suggests ancient Mars received the same carbon-rich meteorites that seeded early Earth and retained these building blocks for billions of years.

• Seven molecules found: trimethylbenzene, tetramethylbenzene, methyl benzoate, dihydronaphthalene, naphthalene, benzothiophene and methylnaphthalene
• Samples came from a dried lakebed over 3.5 billion years old in Gale Crater
• Benzothiophene was previously detected in the 4-billion-year-old Murchison meteorite
• Molecules survived beneath the surface despite Mars's weak magnetosphere