What is the Final Conclusion about Life on Mars?
Luckily, there was one additional experiment which really convinced
scientists life was not present in the soil samples taken by the Viking
Landers.
Mass Spectrometer
This instrument measured the abundance of organic molecules in the
soil samples. None were found. This is more startling than
expected in a lifeless planet. Incoming meteorites carry with them
organic molecules, but even these organics are missing! The
soil and atmosphere is so incredibly oxidizing, it simply
destroys any organic compounds exposed to it. Conclusion:
No Life on the surface of Mars.
But, what about `pre-historic' life on Mars? What about
DEEP in the Mars soil? Valles Marineris is a 10 km deep
canyon! Can we count on Recent or Future Missions to
look there? It wouldn't appear so:
2001 Mars Odyssey
Arrived at Mars
in October, 2001. An orbiting spacecraft designed to determine
the composition of the planet, detect water and shallow buried
ice, and study the radiation environment. This mission does not
have a lander.
Mars Express
Launched June 2003. The orbiter is currently studying the
atmosphere and surface of Mars. A main component of this
mission was to be a lander, called
Beagle 2. Beagle 2,
the lander, was expected to perform on-the-spot measurements and
also search for signs of past life. Beagle 2 was scheduled to land
on Mars at 2.54am GMT, 25th December 2003. Contact has not been
made with Beagle 2, and the fate of the lander is under investigation.
The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) on board Mars Express will employ ground-penetrating radar to map underground water (if it exists) on Mars in May 2005.
Mars Exploration Rovers
NASA sent two powerful new rovers in Summer 2003,
Spirit and Opportunity.
They have far greater mobility than the Pathfinder rover,
trekking up to 100 meters a day. The rovers are identical,
but land on different parts of Mars. They have so far
roamed the surface for well over a (Earth) year. They
will not be doing any deep digging either.