Mars really has life?

Mars has ice! Mars land planted trees! The latest findings of the Phoenix train made the scientific community extremely excited. However, the biggest question remains: 'Is there really life on Mars and if so, can evidence be found?'.

Change strategy

The US Aerospace Agency (NASA) has so far followed the 'water trace' strategy on Mars. In this direction, both the Phoenix and the two Viking ships that explored Mars had not been designed to trace life.

According to scientists, want to find life that has or is existing on Mars, must dig deep at least 1 meter, where not affected by dangerous radiation on the surface. Phoenix is ​​not capable of deepening like that, although the ship is located just 1-2m away from an "answer" - according to Michael Storrie-Lombardi, cosmologist, director of California's Kinohi Institute. Therefore, more modern exploratory vessels are needed with more sensitive tools.

Finding traces of life in any area is a new direction. The search site could be moved closer to the North Pole, where the melting ice occasionally creates good conditions for life to exist. However, aerospace biologist Jack Farmer at the University of Arizona said that ice melting and freezing could also erase biological evidence. A permanent freezing zone will better preserve organic matter.

ExoMars can automatically take samples to Earth and create a base to bring people to Mars.(Photo: ESA)

According to Storrie-Lombardi, the ideal location is a relatively dry area, but if you want to find the life that exists, you must examine the places where the water is flowing. In addition to regions near the northernmost of Mars, scientists want to survey many trenches, where liquids can flow recently. If an active hot spring is detected, it is possible to find life-like bacteria that can withstand harsh conditions.

According to Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado, a geologist works in Mars missions: 'Hot springs are the top search priority. Creatures may not exist and grow on the surface, but recently formed hot water streams may contain many things below. '

Full of hope

Scientists are still cautious but hopefully discover traces of life on the Red Planet. The correct answer will wait for further missions, more efficient than Phoenix, including the US Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) that will be launched in 2009 and European ExoMars scheduled to depart in 2013.

MSL is about the size of a car, will scoop up dirt layers and drill deep into Martian rock to check for components that make up carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen . MSL with laser tools vaporize, puree stone samples for analysis. Geologist John Grotzinger of the MSL project team said that MSL will be effectively increased by choosing a landing site with a diverse environment, including areas with water and mineral signs that can conserve organic matter.

MSL self-propelled ships operate on nuclear power.(Photo: NASA)

ExoMars is expected even more because it has the deepest digging capacity ever, down to 2m, helping to find proof of life already or existing on Mars. Moreover, deeper exploration also promises many new discoveries and certainly full of fun.

Storrie-Lombardi and American and British scientists are studying additional tools to increase the capabilities of MSL and ExoMars. This small laser tool will illuminate the dug holes, make the organic compounds glow like fluorescence, help find the brightest place to focus on checking faster.

Robot ships only send survey results and images of the earth so often cause arguments about what is actually discovered. Therefore, the next goal is to bring the sample of soil from Mars to earth to study with all the most modern tools and techniques to get the correct answer. ExoMars may become an international cooperation project in this direction, with technical tests that allow sampling vessels to return to Earth.

According to scientists, finding life traces on the Red Planet is not the only purpose. NASA's ' slowly ' approach to Mars could upset many scientists, but Jakosky explains: ' Every mission has a new discovery, which helps to understand Mars more systematically. Organic matter can also be generated from abiotic processes. Signs of life on Earth may be different from the signs of life on Mars. Therefore, to clearly understand how to look at Mars is a system '.