The Search for Life on Mars

In the Sci-Fi movie “Total Recall” the story ended with an alien device melting the polar ice caps of Mars venting oxygen into the atmosphere and turning the planet from hostile to habitable. In 2007 NASA determined that, should the ice in the southern polar ice cap melt, it could cover the entire planet in 11 meters of water. From science fiction to science, the exploration of life on Mars continues.

A Look at Life on Mars

The very idea of life on Mars has been around for a long time. In popular culture the term “Martians”, or beings from Mars, has been synonymous with “extraterrestrial life” or the more broad “aliens” for some time. The cry of “life on Mars!” came around the early 19th century when, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli discovered straight lines on the planet surface in 1877 and dubbed them “canals.” A canal is, by implication, something that is constructed as opposed to being found in nature, and thus the idea that Martians had created the canals was born.

While Schiaparelli used the Italian word canali, which could be interpreted to mean man made canals or simply channels or gullies, he likely meant the latter. The idea was popular, however, that there were networks of irrigation canals built by a higher life form. In 1909 a book “Is Mars Habitable?” threw some of the heaviest criticism at the idea. Spectroscopic analysis showed no water in the Maritian atmosphere, and when the space probe Mariner 4 took pictures of the planet in 1965 the question of Maritan canals was finally answered in the negative.

Historic Life on Mars

The question “Is there, or has there ever been, life on Mars?” still requires an answer, however. While there is no surface water on the planet there is ice aplenty in the form of permafrost. As shown by studies of permafrost and ice in Siberia, life in the form of moss could exist in a dormant state, but still alive. Bacteria and single celled organisms may be locked in extended slumber in the ice that we know exists on Mars.

Exploration

There have been dozens of planed missions to examine Mars, either remotely or from the surface, and most have failed. Due to technical and budget reasons many of these missions to Mars either did not get off the ground or failed en route, but still there are more eyes turned towards the Red Planet than ever before. The goal is to get there and examine things first hand, but that may be some time off.

Getting below the surface of the planet is an important goal and many of the think-tank discussions going on now are centred on how to accomplish it. Drilling and spelunking are both on the short list, but there are plenty of concerns about attempting both robotically. Should a culture be found in a cave or subterranean space the likelihood of it being destroyed by the very methods of discovery are high. Experts desperately want to put human boots on the ground to handle any potential discovery in a way that remote and AI controlled methodology simply can not accomplish.

Final Thoughts

Next up is the NASA Phoenix Mars Lander, already on the way to the Red Planet and scheduled to touch down in 2008. It will land in an area with an 80% chance of ice being found less than 30 cm below the surface, and it can dig up to a meter if need be. There might be some very important answers about life on Mars coming in short order.