As it happenedended

Nasa Mars announcement: Red Planet could have building blocks of life, Curiosity rover shows – as it happened

Organic molecules preserved in 3.5 billion-year-old bedrock in Gale Crater suggest conditions back then may have been conducive to life

Thursday 07 June 2018 17:11 BST

NASA Mars Helicopter Technology Demonstration

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Nasa has revealed the latest results from its Curiosity rover gathering samples from the surface of Mars.

The US space agency announced Mars has the building blocks of life, in a discovery that could suggest the planet was once inhabited - or even still is today.

Read below to follow the announcements as they happened.

Please allow a moment for the liveblog to load

Hello and welcome to our coverage of Nasa's press conference announcing its latest findings from Mars courtesy of the Curiosity rover on the Red Planet.

Joe Sommerlad7 June 2018 13:55

The announcement is scheduled for 2pm Eastern Standard Time and 7pm GMT.

Joe Sommerlad7 June 2018 13:56

Broadcast live on Nasa's website, the chat will be hosted by Michelle Thaller, assistant director of science for communications, in the space agency's Planetary Science Division.

Other participants include:

Paul Mahaffy, director of the Solar System Exploration Division at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Jen Eigenbrode, research scientist at Goddard.

Chris Webster, senior research fellow, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California.

Ashwin Vasavada, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist, JPL .

Joe Sommerlad7 June 2018 13:58

Members of the public are invited to make put questions to the panel on Twitter via #askNASA

Joe Sommerlad7 June 2018 13:59

Speculation is growing online that Nasa might be about to finally answer David Bowie's immortal question: "Is there life on Mars?" The excitement is such that, unless they do (or the discovery of Elvis Presley still alive and dining out on a highly repetitive diet of starchy space potatoes), there's going to be some disappointed stargazers out there.

Joe Sommerlad7 June 2018 15:17

While we await Nasa's big news, here's a selection of recent reports from our science and technology correspondent Andrew Griffin on the latest developments concerning Mars.

Ancient meteorite found in Sahara desert reveals history of Mars'Black Beauty' space rock enables scientists to date shifts in Martian terrain caused by massive impact

Joe Sommerlad7 June 2018 16:31

Mars helicopter to fly around red planet on Nasa's next rover mission'The idea of a helicopter flying the skies of another planet is thrilling,' the Nasa chief says

Joe Sommerlad7 June 2018 16:45

Nasa to use 'Marsquakes' in first ever mission to discover Red Planet's coreScientists hope to use the data to better understand the formation of planets billions of years ago

Joe Sommerlad7 June 2018 17:00

Nasa is going to bring back soil from Mars to see if it has aliens'A sample would provide a critical leap forward in our understanding of Mars’s potential to harbour life'

Joe Sommerlad7 June 2018 17:15

Mystery of Martian moon formation solved by scientistsNew study suggests planet was hit by similar-sized object, creating cloud of debris that formed orbiting bodies Phobos and Deimos

Joe Sommerlad7 June 2018 17:30

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