NASA scientists said the Mars Curiosity Rover has detected carbon containing compounds on Mars from samples drilled from an ancient rock. This is the first solid evidence of organic matter on Mars.

The rover also detected some methane gas in the thin Martian atmosphere. Methane is a chemical also found on Earth and linked to the formation of life.

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Although they still don't know when methane gas and organic samples formed on Mars, scientists are finding new ways to unravel these alien geochemical processes.

Curiosity lead scientist John Grotzinger from the California Institute of Technology said the discovery of organics on Mars is a milestone discovery. This brings humankind closer to finding life on the Red Planet.

After landing in August 2012, Curiosity is finally at its prime destination, Mount Sharp inside the Gale Crater. At this 154 kilometer wide impact basin, Curiosity will examine and analyze the chemical composition of rocks that revealed the organics.

According to Curiosity co-investigator Chris Webster from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the methane detected was actually a big surprise. Last year, scientists announced that after eight months of searching, they had found no detectable methane on the planet.

Since November 2013, however, the rover continued its search for methane and found a methane spike 10 times larger than others hovering around the rover for a month before it disappeared.

The Curiosity team believes the methane is produced around the rover and dissipated.

Apart from Curiosity, MAVEN and other Earth-bound telescopes also detected visible methane plumes on Mars. Scientists have yet to study the exact sources of the methane bursts.

This study will be published in the journal, Science, this week.

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