Scientist: NASA found life on Mars

[Fibonacci]

-- and killed it.



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two NASA space probes that visited Mars 30

years ago may have found alien microbes on the Red Planet and

inadvertently killed them, a scientist is theorizing.



The Viking space probes of 1976-77 were looking for the wrong

kind of life, so they didn't recognize it, a geology professor at

Washington State University said.



Dirk Schulze-Makuch presented his theory in a paper delivered at a

meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle,

Washington.



The paper was released Sunday.



Based on a more expansive view of where life can take root, the

paper's findings may prompt NASA to look for a different type of

Martian life when its next spacecraft to visit Mars is launched later

this year, one of the space agency's top scientists said.



Last month, scientists excitedly reported that new photographs of

Mars showed geologic changes that suggest water occasionally

flows there -- the most tantalizing sign that Mars is hospitable

to life.



In the 1970s, the Viking mission found no signs of life.



But it was looking for Earth-like life, in which salt water is the

internal liquid of living cells.



Given the cold dry conditions of Mars, life could have evolved on

Mars with the key internal fluid consisting of a mix of water and

hydrogen peroxide, said Schulze-Makuch.



That's because a water-hydrogen peroxide mix stays liquid at very

low temperatures, or -68 degrees Fahrenheit, and doesn't destroy

cells when it freezes. It can suck water vapor out of the air.



The Viking experiments of the 1970s wouldn't have noticed

hydrogen peroxide-based life and, in fact, would have killed

it by drowning and overheating the microbes, said Schulze-Makuch.



One Viking experiment seeking life on Mars poured water on soil.

That would have essentially drowned hydrogen peroxide-based

life, he said. And different experiment heated the soil to see if

something would happen which would have baked Martian microbes.



"The problem was that they didn't have any clue about the

environment on Mars at that time," Schulze-Makuch said. "This kind

of adaptation makes sense from a biochemical viewpoint."



Even Earth has something somewhat related. He points to an

Earth bug called the bombardier beetle that produces a boiling-hot

spray that is 25 percent hydrogen peroxide as a defense weapon.



Schulze-Makuch acknowledges he can't prove that Martian

microbes exist, but given the Martian environment and how

evolution works, "it makes sense."



In recent years, scientists have found life on Earth in conditions

that were once thought too harsh, such as an ultra-acidic river in

Spain and ice-covered lakes in Antarctica.



Schulze-Makuch's research coincides with work being completed

by a National Research Council panel nicknamed the "weird life"

committee. The group worries that scientists may be too Earth-

centric when looking for extraterrestrial life.



The problem for scientists is that "you only find what you're looking

for," said Penn State University geosciences professor Katherine

Freeman, a reviewer of the NRC work.



A new NASA Mars mission called Phoenix is set for launch this

summer, and one of the scientists involved said he is eager to test

the new theory about life on Mars.



However, scientists must come up with a way to do that using the

mission's existing scientific instruments, said NASA astrobiologist

and Phoenix co-investigator Chris McKay.



He said the Washington State scientist's paper piqued his interest.



"Logical consistency is nice, but it's not enough anymore," McKay

said.



Other experts said the new concept is plausible, but more work is

needed before they are convinced.



"I'm open to the possibility that it could be the case," said

astrobiologist Mitch Sogin of the Marine Biological Lab in Woods

Hole, Massachusetts.



A member of the National Research Council committee, Sogin

also cautioned against "just-so stories about what is possible."

[K.Snyder]

I don't think it would be historically correct to say that "NASA-Found life on Mars"...

It's just a theory...an interesting observation, but still just a theory...

I would need alot more evidence than that, that's for sure.

[Bill Sikes]

Fibonacci;509808 wrote: -- and killed it.



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two NASA space probes that visited Mars 30

years ago may have found alien microbes on the Red Planet and

inadvertently killed them, a scientist is theorizing. "


That could possibly be. It's one of the reasons why we should take extreme

care in space exploration, lest we absolutely wipe out any extra-terrestrial life.

Oh - that also works the other way around, of course!