Life on Mars. Can we find it?

The Mars Curiosity Rover is the most capable, expensive, largest, and intelligent spacecraft that humans have ever landed on Mars.
Curiosity’s successful landing is a big step towards the discovery of life outside our world. With instruments, such as the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars), the rover is equipped to detect traces of water, carbon and other elements that are vital for life. Curiosity had a stunning landing on August 6, on the Gale crater, at the top of a high mountain. The crater’s structure is very useful for scientists, as its layers show past eras of Martian evolution. The areas surrounding the crater show signs of erosion similar to the ones made by running water here on Earth. The Curiosity rover will be able to operate continuously on the Martian surface for at least a full Martian year (687 Earth days). You may be wondering, why Mars? Mars, aside from the Moon, it is the only celestial body that can be seen clearly from Earth. Since 1976, NASA has successfully landed Viking 1, Viking 2, Spirit and Opportunity that have changed our alien view. For instance, four years ago NASA’s Phoenix landing mission sent pictures of frozen water in the Martian soil.

Most recently the rover mission found rocks that have similar shapes to the ones found on Earth’s water streams. The sizes and shapes of stones offer clues to the speed and distance of a long-ago stream's flow. It was calculated that water was moving at about 3 feet per second, with a depth somewhere between ankle and hip deep. Certainly flowing water forms a habitable environment where micro-organism could have lived. Now the task is to look for evidence that confirms the theory that life on Mars once existed.

This set of images compares the rocks on Mars (left) with similar rocks seen on Earth (right). The image, obtained by NASA's Curiosity rover, shows rounded gravel fragments up to a couple inches (few centimeters), within the outside part of the rock. A typical Earth example of rocks found in a water stream is shown on the right. By studying the rocks on Earth, geologists know how different kinds of rocks formed. The point that most people make is that, even in the presence of water, the harsh conditions in Mars would not allow any life to exist. To test this theory scientist have conducted experiments in where micro-organism were put into a chamber that had the same conditions as of Mars. Surprisingly, the results showed that some of these organisms not only survived, but also where active and ready to reproduce.

The picture shown at the left was the result of the experiment conducted by scientists. Inside the crystal is a sample of Cyanobacteria that survived Martian conditions.

In the incoming months, Curiosity will be able to satisfy our curiosity about the world with new discoveries, such as the very first analysis of red sand of Martian soil. Scientists say that these soil looks like the weathered volcanic soils of Hawaii. They are widespread on the surface of the Gale crater, possibly blown there by Martian winds or the remnants of ancient erupting volcanoes. As Curiosity continues to explore Mars, humans will continue have a better idea of what that big red planet is made of. For every discovery made by the rover, thousands more questions arise. Where is the water now? For how long did the water flow? What was the temperature of the water? Did Mars have clouds before? And one of the most important question, what caused Mars to become what it is today? The only way to answer these questions is if people like you continue to take interest in this matter.

Biology group. Irene V. Vargas, Rafael Gutierrez and Nizida Granado.