Life on Mars (a.k.a. Mount Sharp), on August 6, 2012. On 16 December 2014, NASA reported the "Curiosity" rover detected a "tenfold spike", likely localized, in the amount of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Sample measurements taken "a dozen times over 20 months" showed increases in late 2013 and early 2014, averaging "7 parts of methane per billion in the atmosphere." Before and after that, readings averaged around one-tenth that level. In addition, low levels of chlorobenzene (), were detected in powder drilled from one of the rocks, named "Cumberland", analyzed by the Curiosity rover. Some of the main reasons for colonizing Mars
NASA Earth Science NASA Earth Science NASA Earth Science, formerly called the NASA Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), formerly called Mission To Planet Earth (MTPE), is a NASA research program "to develop a scientific understanding of the Earth system and its response to natural and human-induced changes to enable improved prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards for present and future generations". "To improve life here" and "To understand and protect our home planet," NASA supports research in the Earth Sciences and, as part of its Earth Observing System (EOS), launches and maintains Earth observing satellites to monitor the state of the climate, atmospheric