The discovery was made by the Mars rover Curiosity

Excited experts are already speculating that the imminent announcement will confirm that signs of life are evident on the red planet, as the £1.6billion Mars Curiosity rover seems to have discovered what it set out to find on Mars.

Chief scientist John Grotzinger said: "This data is gonna be one for the history books. It’s looking really good."

The finding was made by the six-wheeled rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument in the Rocknest area of the Gale Crate, close to where the rover touched down.

SAM is Curiosity's on-board chemistry lab and is able to take a sample of Martian rock, soil or air and find out what it is made of.

Most significantly, it is capable of identifying organic compounds - carbon containing substances that could indicate life.