This discovery is significant because methane does not last long in the Martian atmosphere; solar radiation breaks it down within a few hundred years. For it to be present
The modern era began in 1965 with Mariner 4 . When the first close-up images arrived, they revealed a cratered, moon-like landscape with no canals, no cities, and no obvious water. For a decade, Mars became a biological dead zone.
The next five years will be the most critical in the history of Martian exploration. Watch the sky.