# Curiosity Used Its Last Chemistry Cup on Mars. The Answer Stays There.

- slug: curiosity-used-its-last-chemistry-cup-on-mars-the-answer-stays-there
- date: 2026-04-22
- category: Space & Aerospace

SAM extracted 21 organics from 3.5-billion-year-old Martian rock, including a candidate RNA/DNA precursor never before seen on the planet. The chemical cup that made it possible is now empty — and Congress killed the only program that would have brought the samples home.

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