Life on Mars!?
By: Madeline Patrick
Not quite. But, NASA announced recently that liquid water has been found. This doesn’t mean there is currently life on the Red Planet; however, it could mean that there was once life on Mars, or that it could be in the early stages of life.
The liquid water found on Mars isn’t like the fresh springs that belonged on Earth. Mars’ water is briny, containing perchlorate, a chlorine salt. Without water, no known forms of life could live, so even this salty water could hold answers to Mars’ past or future.
Of course, there aren’t Martians such as the ones in cartoons living on the planet, but microbes or even small animals and insects could be. Mars has endured tough conditions. The drying of its oceans and evaporation of the atmosphere means that the microbes that may, or may not, live on Mars would have to be able to survive extreme conditions. If the microbes found on Mars are different than those found on Earth, scientists can conclude that life forms can form in any place that has sufficient resources to support it.
The living conditions of Mars are incredibly different than that of Earth. Mars is much smaller than Earth; therefore, its mass is much smaller and that of Earth causing the gravity of the planet to be much less than Earth. The Red Planet is also a very cold and has low atmospheric pressure.
If microbes are found on Mars, it could be the biggest breakthrough in space exploration since the first spaceship made it out of Earth’s atmosphere.