The early Mars environment was not suitable for life

Past Mars may exist in liquid form but according to scientists, this environment is not suitable for life because it has high levels of acid and oxidizing substances.

According to Harvard researcher Andrew Knoll and a member of NASA's Mars Understanding program, this is the latest news from NASA's more extensive exploration of Spirit and Opportunity vessels.'This environment is not suitable for life development and is not good for chemicals that help shape life on earth.'

Knoll and other scientists working on Mars have presented their latest results at the annual meeting of the American Advanced Science Society in Boston. Relevant findings will be published in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research — Planets .

New discovery from the probe

Spirit and Opportunity explored the surface of Mars for nearly 1,400 Mars days - exceeding the expected life of each robot by about 90 days.

The most valuable discovery of two probes is on the geological side, including evidence of the existence of water on the planet in the past. But the results show that water has high acidity and salinity because of dissolved minerals.
Knoll said: 'First, we focus on acidity because this environment must be very acidic. But now we are also interested in high salt content. This makes the existence of life on Mars more unbelievable. '

Even if life is formed in such a fictional situation - because there are salt tolerant bacteria on earth - they will also be destroyed by meteorites.

About 3.9 million years ago, Mars was attacked by a heavy collision similar to what happened to the earth's moon.'We know that meteorites can cause far-reaching effects on life. The possibility is high that the planet may have been hit by antiseptic meteorites. '

The collage from the explorer ship shows the stone carpet from inside the crater Victoria Mars.Scientists said the latest findings from Opportunity and the Spirit ship that revealed past Mars may have existed water but high acidity and salinity because of dissolved minerals.(Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell University)

New approach

The new findings are published as soon as NASA's next expedition is approaching the surface of Mars. Phoenix probe, whose control room is located in Tucson, Arizona, left Earth in August and is expected to land on Mars's surface in late May.

Steven Squyres, the principal investigator of the Mars explorers, said Phoenix showed that scientists have changed the way they study the possibility of life on Mars since the mid-1970s, when Viking ships is the first explorer ship to land on this planet.

Viking seeks bacteria in the soil right on the landing, a method Squyres calls "fake and overly optimistic." In contrast, Phoenix's mission is to dig deep into the surface to bring up buried ice.

New probe

At the present time, Knoll said the search for Mars will continue but scientists must change the method. Careful analysis is needed to see what kind of life can develop in such an unfriendly environment and how it can survive. Knoll also adds that it may be different from what we hope for.

According to the Project Manager, Richard Cook of NASA's Jet Jet Laboratory, the next expedition, the Mars Science Laboratory, will incorporate these lessons.

Most importantly, this explorer can analyze chemical samples on board.

Scientists working on the project - expected to be launched in the fall of 2009 - are choosing between six potential landing zones. They hope to be able to send new explorers to a long-standing place and be preserved from the early stages.

Knoll said: 'If I had to choose, perhaps the best place to find evidence for life on Mars would be at the beginning of Mars, about 500 or 600 million years first. ' It is possible that Mars's first phase is wetter and acid-free or oxidized than it is today. 'The biggest hope for life on Mars is in the environments we have never studied.'