Submission + - Martian Methane Gets Even More Mysterious (spacefellowship.com) 1
Matt_dk writes: Mars' atmosphere consists of 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon, and contains small amounts of oxygen and water, as well as trace amounts of methane. The methane — although small in percentage — might be the most intriguing because the source of this very short-lived gas remains a mystery. And the mystery has just gotten a little more puzzling, as the lifetime of methane in Mars atmosphere appears to be even shorter than scientists has originally thought. Using observations from the Mars Global Surveyor — which functioned in orbit around for almost ten years — a group of scientists from Italy have determined the methane in the atmosphere of Mars lasts less than a year.
