Over the years, numerous missions have been sent to Mars in search of evidence of life. However, despite our best efforts, no conclusive evidence has been found to support the existence of life on the red planet. But what if we were closer than we thought? In the 1970s, the Viking landers became the first US mission to explore Mars. One scientist now speculates that our very methods may have unintentionally destroyed evidence of life. This revelation raises important questions about how we approach future experiments on Mars and the need for dedicated missions solely focused on the search for life.
When the Viking landers touched down on Mars in 1976, one of their primary objectives was to conduct experiments to test the Martian soil for signs of life. These experiments were groundbreaking, as they were the first dedicated biological tests ever performed on Mars. One particular experiment, the gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GCMS), detected chlorinated organics in the Martian soil. This discovery was initially dismissed as contamination from human cleaning products. However, we now know that chlorinated organics are native to Mars, leaving the question of their origin unanswered.
Astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch argues that the experimental methods used during the Viking mission may have unintentionally destroyed potential evidence of life. Concerns are raised about some of the experiments, such as the labeled release and pyrolytic release experiments, which involved infusing Martian samples with liquid and testing for evidence of metabolism and photosynthesis, respectively. Schulze-Makuch suggests that the addition of water to the dry Martian samples may have overwhelmed and destroyed any potential microbial life. Moreover, he highlights that the life signs identified in the pyrolytic release experiment were stronger in the control run without water, leading to speculation that these experiments may have detected signs of life that were mistakenly dismissed.
The Viking mission assumed that Martian life would function similarly to life on Earth and require a significant amount of water to thrive. However, recent discoveries have shown that life can adapt to survive under extremely dry conditions. Mars, known for its arid environment, may be home to dry-adapted life forms that are optimized to thrive in the absence of water. The implications of pouring water over these dry-adapted microbes can be likened to drowning them. Schulze-Makuch argues that it is crucial to reevaluate our assumptions about the ecological conditions on Mars before conducting future experiments.
Despite the contradictory and inconclusive nature of the Viking experiment results, Schulze-Makuch proposes that they are not incompatible with the possibility of dry-adapted life on Mars. He suggests that Mars may host life that incorporates hydrogen peroxide, and the Viking mission’s outcomes warrant further investigation. Schulze-Makuch advocates for a new mission dedicated primarily to the detection of life on Mars, which would provide an opportunity to test and explore the hypothesis of dry-adapted life.
As our understanding of Mars evolves, it is clear that our previous methods and assumptions may have hindered our ability to detect signs of life on the red planet. The Viking mission, while groundbreaking at the time, raised more questions than answers and highlighted the need for future missions solely focused on the search for life. To unlock the mysteries of Mars and uncover evidence of extraterrestrial life, we must approach future experiments with a deep understanding of the planet’s ecology. It is an exciting time as scientists eagerly await a dedicated mission to Mars, one that holds the promise of finally unraveling the secrets of life beyond Earth.
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