Everyone knows Mars as the red planet, but lately it has captured our imagination as a wet planet too. Recently, scientists surprised the world with reports of huge bodies of water hidden beneath Mars’ rocky crust, as well as a rock on Mars that contains yellow sulfur crystals.
These incredible revelations open up a flood of possibilities, not least the possibility of proving the existence of life on Mars.
Water on Mars indicates extraterrestrial life
Mars as we know it may be wearing a mask, and its true face may be hidden miles beneath the surface. Mars’ true story lies in the secrets hidden deep within its rocky crust, where vast bodies of water exist, data from NASA’s Mars Insight lander shows.
After monitoring more than 1,300 marsquakes over a four-year period, scientists led by Vashan Wright, a geophysicist at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, were able to peel back the layers of this fascinating planet.
Wright’s findings suggest that significant amounts of water are trapped in rocks at depths of 11.4 to 20.0 kilometers on Mars, creating a different picture than the barren desert on its surface.
“If they’re right,” says Karen Lloyd, an underground microbiologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, “I think this is a game changer.”
Miracles beneath the surface
To understand the importance of water on Mars, we can look at life on our home planet. Over the past 30 years, scientists have found evidence that vibrant life thrives deep beneath our Earth.
These underground life forms consist mainly of bacteria and archaea, two of the oldest known life forms that existed even before the emergence of plants and animals.
While the underground world is challenging, it offers an incredibly resilient and diverse biosphere. Lloyd stresses that these organisms do not depend on sunlight. Instead, they rely on chemosynthesis for survival, meaning they carry out various chemical reactions using chemicals from rock and water.
The Earth’s subterranean world is teeming with such life. A look at the numbers shows an astonishing 2 to 6 x 1029 Cells of life beneath the continents of the Earth, which make up the 1024 Stars in the visible universe. In fact, 70% of all bacteria and archaea on Earth live underground.
Search for life and water on Mars
The deeper researchers delve into the mysteries of Mars, the more exciting the search for life on this planet becomes.
The detection of liquid water beneath the surface raises numerous questions about the possibility of microbial life in these hidden aquifers.
Scientists are drawing parallels to the ecosystems beneath the Earth’s surface and speculating about the types of extremophiles – organisms that thrive in extreme environments – that might inhabit Mars.
This line of research not only advances astrobiology, but also improves our understanding of life’s ability to adapt to different planetary conditions. If life is discovered, it could transform our understanding of biology and the unique conditions that support it, and open a dialogue about life beyond Earth.
Future missions to Mars
The significance of the newly discovered water resources on Mars goes beyond academic curiosity; they also lay the foundation for future exploration missions.
NASA and other space agencies now face the challenge of developing missions that focus not only on studying factors such as water, but also on investigating the possibility of sustaining life on Mars.
Proposals for colonization efforts have sparked discussions about terraforming – a speculative idea to alter Mars’ environment to make it more livable.
The scientific community is now aware of the ethical issues involved in exploring and potentially modifying another planet, emphasizing the need for careful consideration in our quest to understand the cosmos.
We are at the beginning of a new era in planetary science, and our discoveries about Mars challenge us to think not only about our role in the universe, but also about the nature of life itself.
Martian Microbes
Using Earth as a model, Wright’s findings raise the possibility of life beneath the surface of Mars and bring us one step closer to answering the big question: Is there life on Mars? While there is no definitive evidence yet, the signs are promising.
For example, methane clouds in the Martian air have piqued scientists’ interest. On Earth, methane is often a byproduct of microbial activity – could this also be the case on Mars?
However, life needs not only water, but also energy and a suitable habitat on Mars. Exploring these aspects of the Martian subsurface is the next step in the search for extraterrestrial life.
The task ahead is daunting. Digging 6.2 miles or more on a planet without breathable air or running water is not currently possible. But just beneath the surface there may be evidence of life on Mars, just waiting to be discovered.
The journey may be long and the challenges great, but whatever the outcome, we will ultimately gain a deeper understanding of Mars and possibly life beyond Earth. This journey may take decades, but each step brings us closer to answering one of science’s most fascinating questions: Are we alone in the universe?
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