RClearly, NASA Exciting description of new findings revealed Mars planet, Scientist Discovered small patterns of unusual minerals in soil-rich Rocks On the edge of the Jazero Crater – an ancient lake once fed by the Martian river systems, and NASA firmness site of the rover.
These “leopard spots” patterns have been seen as a possible sign of the previous microbial life due to their similarity with a mark left behind by microorganisms on Earth.
The jury is still out on whether these are really signs of life, but this discovery has ruled the discussion about the previous existence of life on Mars, and there is a possibility that it can survive there even today.
We will need many different lines Proof To answer this question, but currently there is priority to consider some of the martian environments.
The early Earth and the early Mars were relatively similar, but this equality did not last long. Both had atmosphere and magnetic fields that provided some protection from harmful radiation arising from the Sun, as well as with a liquid water body on their surface. We know that these conditions led the origin of life on earth, so it is possible that the same can happen on Mars.
While life started flourishing on Earth, Mars lost its magnetic field because its origin had cooled down. This exposed the planet to harmful solar rays that ended the atmosphere. As the atmosphere disappeared, the Martian surface became cold and drying, eventually what we know today became cold.
This is why many scientists do not expect to find living organisms on the surface of Mars – it is very inhuman to life as we know. Instead, hope lies in highlighting the preserved microbial life hidden in the protected underground or icy areas.
Where can life live on Mars?
Martian microbial life includes caves in potential locations, inside or under ice sheets on the pole, or deep underground. All these environments have analogs on Earth (some equality environment) that host microorganisms. So it is not a stretch to consider that if life starts on Mars, it can still catch in these extreme niches.
Perhaps the most appreciated of these is Martian sub -state. From a few meters to several kilometers depths, it is considered to be the most stable and long -lived -living housing of the planet.
While the surface has been cold, dry and generally inhumane for most of the Martian history, deep sub -state may have offered more favorable conditions. On Earth, deep biosphere – life that survives under the surface provides a useful comparison.
About the author
Sean Jordan is an Associate Professor in Chemistry at Dublin City University, Ireland. Sean Jordan is an Associate Professor in Chemistry, also at Dublin City University, Ireland. This article is reinstated by negotiations under a creative Commons License. read the Original article.
The Earth’s microbial life has sufficient amount of underground, alive in cracks within the rocks. These ecosystems have dominance of lithoototrophs – microbes that get energy by feeding on those rocks. Methane, a possible sub -product of some lithohatrof feeding habits, even found on Mars. But there are many ways to generate methane underground without life, so it does not tell us much right now.
The capacity of a deep biosphere rests on factors including liquid water availability, a source of energy, location to live and tolerant temperature. There are possible evidence for the existence of liquid water under the surface of Mars, but it is still under the scope of debate.
This will facilitate chemical reactions known as water-rock reactions that generate energy for germs to live. Due to their weak gravitational, rocks on Mars can be less narrow than those on Earth and are more deeply porous, which give germs a place to live.
At the same time, Mars produces less heat than its interior, meaning that the suitable temperature for life can be almost twice as deep as they do on earth.
Scientists spend a lot of time analyzing places on Earth – Mars analogs – to try to understand the possibilities of past and present life on Mars. These atmosphere is not the same as Mars, but they share at least an important feature such as extreme dryness, high salt levels or high UV exposure.
Earth’s deep sub -constituency is an example, and the other includes the Atakama Desert in South America, Lake Salada in Turkey and the salts found in the Pilot Valley of Utah. Researchers from all over the world are examining these sites on Earth to understand how Martian’s position can affect life and its conservation. Since no place on Earth can possibly match all Martian conditions, scientists also run a controlled laboratory experiment.
An example of this is the use of Martian environmental conditions such as its environment, radiation risk and special “Mars Chambers” to reproduce temperature. All these investigations jointly helped to understand the ability of life on Mars better.
Signs of life today?
Right now there is no decisive evidence of life in Mars past or present. We have the most promising signs of NASA’s “leopards’ spots”, but are still inconclusive. If life is present on Mars today, it is almost certainly not widespread like the Earth – our investigation and Rovers would have seen it.
However, important opportunities are further. The upcoming European Space Agency (ESA) will be able to drill two meters below the Rosalind Franklin Rover Martian surface. This will give us an opportunity to study the shallow sub -colors of Mars which can have living microorganisms. But this is only the beginning – most scientists agree that we will need to go deeply.
Deep drilling on Earth is still a big challenge and much more that we do not know about our own sub -status life. Checking the deep sub -constituency of Mars would be a major scientist and engineering challenge, but one who can have the key to finding the existing Martian life.