Space
Famous Mars meteorite discovered with interesting, new organics
Scientists are looking at Mars in a whole new way. That’s because a new analysis of a famous piece of the red planet has revealed something exciting: traces of nitrogen.
Nitrogen, together with organic molecules — carbon-rich molecules that are considered the building blocks of life as we know it — have been spotted in the Alan Hills meteorite, a new study suggests.
The Alan Hills sample was discovered in Antarctica in 1984 and is one of the largest, most famous meteorites from Mars. That’s because it sparked quite the controversy when it was first found. Some of the first analysis of the rock suggested that the sample contained microbial fossils. This led to rumors that scientists might have spotted their firsts signs of Martian life.
Over billions of years, Mars has been stripped of its atmosphere, and as such, its surface is subjected to cosmic radiation as well as blasts from interstellar objects. Sometimes the blasts are so powerful that chunks of rock are ejected into space and eventually land on other planetary bodies such as the moon or Earth.
Scientists estimate that the Alan Hills sample arrived on our planet at least 13,000 years ago and that the sample itself is around 4 billion years old. This 4-lb. chunk of rock is the oldest known meteorite from Mars that we’ve found.
Mars, as we know it today, appears to be a pretty inhospitable place for life. But that wasn’t always the case. Mars was once a lush, wet world, and new evidence points to the fact that an ancient chunk of the red planet is harboring traces of organic molecules.
These types of carbon-rich molecules are the building blocks of life. Their presence does not necessarily qualify as a definitive sign that life was once present on Mars, but it bolsters the case. That’s because this particular sample doesn’t just contain a random set of organic molecules; it contains traces of nitrogen explicitly.
And nitrogen is something that life here on Earth depends on.
The Allan Hills 84001 meteorite is a famous hunk of Martian rock that was found in a region of Antarctica called Allan Hills in 1984. The new study, conducted by a group of researchers from the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), indicates that not only does the sample contain nitrogen, but that the nitrogen was found within carbonate minerals in the rock. These types of minerals typically form in groundwater, so this could be further evidence to support the notion that Mars was once a wet world.
To make this discovery, the team from JAXA, led by Mizuho Koike, used a technique called X-ray spectroscopy to determine that the nitrogen was hiding in the carbonate minerals. Even though the Alan Hills sample has been in the news before, this was the first definitive evidence that there was nitrogen in the meteorite.
This discovery does not mean that the researchers have found signs of life on Mars. The presence of nitrogen and the carbonate minerals can be produced both biotically and abiotically. Scientists do not yet know how these molecules formed, but they have ruled out that they were somehow contaminated by Earth minerals.
But how were they formed? According to the researchers, there are two possibilities: either the organics originated on Mars, or they came from outside the planet. Mars was bombarded by comets and other rock and dust particles, and it’s possible that some of them may have been trapped inside the minerals as they formed.
Researchers will soon have other Martian rocks to compare these results to. This summer, NASA is launching the Perseverance Mars rover. The six-wheeled robot will land in on Mars in a region called Jezero Crater. The agency selected this spot as the landing site because it’s believed to be an ancient river delta and could contain minerals known to preserve microfossils here on Earth.
The rover’s task will be to search for signs of a past life as well as to bag up samples that will be sent to Earth on later missions. Once researchers have access to pristine Martian samples, they will be able to expand their knowledge of the red planet. And perhaps even be able to tell if Mars ever hosted life.
Elon Musk
SpaceX to decommission Dragon spacecraft in response to Pres. Trump war of words with Elon Musk
Elon Musk says SpaceX will decommission Dragon as a result of President Trump’s threat to end his subsidies and government contracts.
SpaceX will decommission its Dragon spacecraft in response to the intense war of words that President Trump and CEO Elon Musk have entered on various social media platforms today.
President Trump and Musk, who was once considered a right-hand man to Trump, have entered a vicious war of words on Thursday. The issues stem from Musk’s disagreement with the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which will increase the U.S. federal deficit, the Tesla and SpaceX frontman says.
How Tesla could benefit from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ that axes EV subsidies
The insults and threats have been brutal, as Trump has said he doesn’t know if he’ll respect Musk again, and Musk has even stated that the President would not have won the election in November if it were not for him.
President Trump then said later in the day that:
“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Government Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Musk’s response was simple: he will decommission the SpaceX capsule responsible for transporting crew and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS): Dragon.
🚨 Elon says Dragon will be decommissioned immediately due to President Trump’s threats to terminate SpaceX’s government contracts https://t.co/XNB0LflZIy
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2025
Dragon has completed 51 missions, 46 of which have been to the ISS. It is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth’s orbit. It is the only spacecraft that is capable of returning vast amounts of cargo to Earth. It is also the first private spacecraft to take humans to the ISS.
The most notable mission Dragon completed is one of its most recent, as SpaceX brought NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth after being stranded at the ISS by a Boeing Starliner capsule.
SpaceX’s reluctance to participate in federally funded projects may put the government in a strange position. It will look to bring Boeing back in to take a majority of these projects, but there might be some reluctance based on the Starliner mishap with Wilmore and Williams.
SpaceX bails out Boeing and employees are reportedly ‘humiliated’
News
SpaceX hit with mishap investigation by FAA for Starship Flight 9
Starship’s ninth test flight has the FAA requiring a mishap investigation from SpaceX.
SpaceX has been hit with yet another mishap investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) related to the company’s ninth test flight of Starship earlier this week.
The FAA said the mishap investigation is “focused only on the loss of the Starship vehicle, which did not complete its launch or reentry as planned.” The agency said the loss of the Super Heavy booster is covered by one of the FAA’s approved test induced damage exceptions requested by SpaceX.
All of Starship and Super Heavy booster debris landed within the designated hazard areas, the FAA confirmed.
It said it activated a Debris Response Area out of an abundance of caution as the booster “experienced its anomaly over the Gulf of America during its flyback toward Texas. The FAA subsequently determined the debris did not fall outside of the hazard area. During the event there were zero departure delays, one flight was diverted, and one airborne flight was held for 24 minutes. ”
SpaceX has become accustomed to mishap investigations by the FAA, as they have been impacted by them on several occasions in the past, including on Flight 8. However, they are a precautionary measure and usually are resolved within a few weeks.
Flight 9 was one of SpaceX’s most eventful, as there were several discoveries during the launch. First, it was SpaceX’s first time reusing a Super Heavy booster, as the one utilized for Flight 9 was also used on Flight 7 in January.
Contact with the booster and Starship were both lost during Flight 9. SpaceX said the booster was lost “shortly after the start of landing burn when it experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly approximately 6 minutes after launch.”
Meanwhile, Starship was set to make a splashdown in the Indian Ocean, but the vehicle was lost about 46 minutes into the flight, SpaceX said in a mission recap.
It was an improvement from the previous two flights, as both 7 and 8 resulted in the loss of Starship after just a few minutes. Flight 9 lasted considerably longer. These flights are also not intended to make it to Mars, despite what other reports might try to tell you.
These are ways to gain information for when SpaceX eventually tries to get Starship to Mars.
Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship gets FAA nod for ninth test flight
The FAA has given the green light for Starship’s ninth test flight.
SpaceX has received FAA approval for the ninth test flight of the Starship rocket. The approval was delayed due to the federal agency finishing its comprehensive safety review of the eighth flight earlier this year.
The FAA said in a statement that it has determined that SpaceX has “satisfactorily addressed the causes of the mishap, and therefore, the Starship vehicle can return to flight.”
The eighth test flight occurred back on March 6. SpaceX completed a successful liftoff of Starship and the Super Heavy Booster, before the two entered stage separation a few minutes after launch.
Starship Flight 8: SpaceX nails Super Heavy booster catch but loses upper stage
The booster returned and was caught by the chopsticks on the launch pad, completing the second successful booster catch in the program’s history. However, SpaceX lost contact with Starship in the upper atmosphere.
The ship broke up and reentered the atmosphere over Florida and the Bahamas.
The debris situation caused the FAA to initiate a mishap investigation:
Starship Flight 8’s Ship 34 provided some beautiful fireworks in the sky during its rapid unscheduled disassembly. Beautiful but unfortunate.
Hopefully, Flight 9 would no longer have any RUD incidents. pic.twitter.com/p4qAToDXOM
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) March 7, 2025
The FAA said it will verify that SpaceX implements all the corrective actions on Flight 9 that it discovered during the mishap investigation.
There is no current confirmed launch window, but the earliest it could take off from Starbase is Tuesday, May 27, at 6:30 p.m. local time.
To prevent any injuries and potentially limit any damage, the FAA has stayed in contact with various countries that could be impacted if another loss of vehicle occurs:
“The FAA is in close contact and collaboration with the United Kingdom, Turks & Caicos Islands, Bahamas, Mexico, and Cuba as the agency continues to monitor SpaceX’s compliance with all public safety and other regulatory requirements.”
The agency has also stated that the Aircraft Hazard Area (AHA) is approximately 1,600 nautical miles and extends eastward from the Starbase, Texas, launch site through the Straits of Florida, including the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos.
For flight 8, the AHA was just 885 nautical miles.
Waymo temporarily halts service in select San Francisco and LA areas amid protests
xAI targets $5 billion debt offering to fuel company goals
SpaceX to debut new Dragon capsule in Axiom Space launch
-
News1 week agoTesla to lose 64 Superchargers on New Jersey Turnpike in controversial decision
-
News2 weeks agoTesla gets major upgrade that Apple users will absolutely love
-
News2 weeks agoTesla teases new color while testing refreshed Model S, X
-
Elon Musk2 weeks agoTesla investors demand 40-hour workweek from Elon Musk
-
Elon Musk7 days agoElon Musk explains Tesla’s domestic battery strategy
-
News2 weeks agoTesla Cybertrucks join Jalisco’s police fleet ahead of FIFA World Cup
-
News2 weeks agoTesla rolls out new crucial safety feature aimed at saving children
-
Elon Musk2 weeks agoTesla lands on date for Robotaxi launch in Austin: report