NASA makes Mars discovery: 'Mind boggling' oxygen fluctuations found on planet

NASA has discovered "mind boggling" fluctuations of oxygen in Mars' atmosphere that do not match up with current scientific understanding.

The change in the make-up of the air on Mars over the course of a year was studied for the first time in history.

While researchers expected some change in the levels of oxygen on the planet, they are "struggling to explain" what they found.

A 30 per cent jump in oxygen was discovered in the summer, forcing NASA to check the equipment to make sure it was working properly.

Levels then appear to return to the predicted rate during the autumn.

NASA said this could mean "that something was producing it and then taking it away".

Sushil Atreya, professor of climate and space sciences at the University of Michigan near Detroit, said: "The first time we saw that, it was just mind boggling."

Melissa Trainer, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland, who led the research said: "This is the first time where we’re seeing this interesting behaviour over multiple years. We don’t totally understand it.

“For me, this is an open call to all the smart people out there who are interested in this: See what you can come up with.”

NASA has previously noted methane behaving peculiarly in the atmosphere on Mars.

A report from the space agency said: "Oxygen and methane can be produced both biologically (from microbes, for instance) and abiotically (from chemistry related to water and rocks).

"Scientists are considering all options, although they don’t have any convincing evidence of biological activity on Mars.

"Curiosity doesn't have instruments that can definitively say whether the source of the methane or oxygen on Mars is biological or geological.

"Scientists expect that non-biological explanations are more likely and are working diligently to fully understand them."