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Possible present day habitats for life on Mars (Including potential Mars special regions): Difference between revisions
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Possible present day habitats for life on Mars (Including potential Mars special regions) (edit)
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The [[Viking program#Viking landers|Viking landers]] (operating on Mars from 1976-1982), are the only spacecraft so far to search directly for life on Mars. They landed in the equatorial regions of Mars. With our modern understanding of Mars, this would be a surprising location to find life, as the soil there is thought to be completely ice free to a depth of at least hundred meters, and possibly for a kilometer or more. It is not totally impossible though, as some scientists have suggested ways that life could exist even in such arid conditions, using the night time humidity of the atmosphere, and possibly in some way utilizing the frosts that form frequently in the mornings in equatorial regions.<ref name=sanddunesbioreactor/><ref name=LevinMarsLifeIdea>[http://www.astrobio.net/news-exclusive/the-viking-files/ The Viking Files] Astrobiology Magazine (NASA) - May 29, 2003, astrobio.net (summary of scientific research)</ref>
The Viking results were intriguing, and inconclusive.<ref name="Levin 1976 1322–1329">{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.194.4271.1322 |pages=1322–1329 |title=Viking Labeled Release Biology Experiment: Interim Results |date=1976 |last=Levin |first=G. V. |last2=Straat |first2=P. A. |journal=Science |volume=194 |issue=4271 |pmid=17797094 |bibcode=1976Sci...194.1322L }}</ref> There has been much debate since then between a small number of scientists who think that the Viking missions did detect life,<ref name=VikingGasChromatograph/><ref name=JosephMiller/><ref name="Bianciardi-2012"/><ref name=Levin2016>Levin, G.V. and Straat, P.A., 2016. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6445182/ The case for extant life on Mars and its possible detection by the Viking labeled release experiment]. Astrobiology, 16(10), pp.798-810.
{{quote|"'''''It is concluded that extant life is a strong possibility, that abiotic interpretations of the LR data are not conclusive, and that, even setting our conclusion aside, biology should still be considered as an explanation for the LR experiment. Because of possible contamination of Mars by terrestrial microbes after Viking, we note that the LR data are the only data we will ever have on biologically pristine martian samples'''''"}}
</ref> and the majority of scientists who think that it did not.<ref name="PlaxcoGross2011_2"/><ref name=Quine2013/>
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