Does life exist in Mars? "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" as Bob Dylan wrote & sang. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has continually been searching for signs of life in the "Red Planet."
One way senior scientists are trying to pin down signs of life is by testing traces of methane gas flowing through the Martian atmosphere, and tracing the source. NASA's Curiosity Rover has been orbiting Mars and the Gale Crater. Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012, with the original mission of studying if the ancient Mars was habitable. The Curiosity team had monitored and noted fluctuating levels of methane in the air, using its Tunable Laser Spectrometer, in the ensuing year.
New equipment like state-of-the-art telescopes and coordinated missions like the Trace Gas Orbiter and Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution will be support the continuing study that may shed light on possible life in Mars.
It can be recalled that in the mid 1970s, NASA sent space probes, Vikings 1 and 2, to Mars. Soil samples showed some evidence of extraterrestrial microbes. The findings, however, were not conclusive, as far as determining the existence of life in Mars.
Last February, scientists have confirmed the presence of methane in Mars' atmosphere, hinting at the possibility of life in that planet. For now, other questions that have emerged are being addressed, including how methane evolves in Mars' atmosphere following emission.
Amidst the continuing scientific findings that may offer real evidence of life in the Red Planet, news of bizarre-looking rocks in Mars photographed by NASA Curiosity have circulated in the web. In another development, meteorites from Mars have gotten the attention of scientists. It turns out certain meteorite may have components that may indicate some form of biological activity or process. Methane gas emissions, mystery rocks, meteorites... whatever scientists may uncover to ascertain lifeform that exist in Mars, the public's interest has been aroused. The plot thickens...
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