Life on Mars

Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Mars Supporting Life 3
Ongoing Search for Life 5
Conclusion 7
References 9

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Life on Mars

Introduction
Mars is one of the solar system planets, and it is the fourth from the Sun. It is vital to
acknowledge that Mars is the next planet beyond Earth. A critical examination of the distance
between Mars and the Sun indicates that it is 142 million miles away from the Sun. Also, Mars is
half the size of Earth, and a day on the planet is approximately 24.6 hours. Mars is often referred
to as the Red planet because its soil looks like rusty iron (NASA, 2020). Notably, Mars consists
of two moons, namely Phobos and Deimos. Mars is one of the coldest planets, whose average
temperature is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists and other explorers are investigating life
on Mars due to many reasons. One of the reasons is that Mars is close to the solar system, and
thus scientists believe it can support just like Earth. Additionally, scientists believe that Mars has
adequate water, is warmer, and has a thicker atmosphere, making it a potentially habitable
environment.
Life refers to the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter.
Some features that define life include growth, reproduction, and functional activity. It is vital to
acknowledge that people have believed that there is life on Mars based on the data revealed by
scientists who think that life could have existed on Mars in the past. Based on the recent
discoveries made by scientists on the planet Mars, there are more reasons to accept the chances
of life on the planet (Joseph et al., 2019). Specifically, the discovery of whiffs of methane fit
with the idea of subsurface methanogenic bacteria and the discoveries of extremophile bugs on
Earth, which show how resilient life can be. Some scientists still believe that there is life on Mars
because it has adequate resources to support life. The report discusses numerous aspects of why
Mars can support life.

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Figure 1: A picture of the Curiosity rover

Mars Supporting Life
According to astrobiologists, there are requirements to support life on any planet.
Notably, astrobiologists believe that carbon forms the basis for all life on Earth, and thus without
it, life formations may not exist. It is vital to acknowledge that carbon has chemical bonds that
help it form complex chains of different molecules (Greshko, 2018). Additionally, astrobiologists
believe that water is one of the essential requirements for life to arise. Notably, life forms require
water for numerous chemical reactions in their bodies for efficient body functioning. A critical
examination of Mars requires certain elements to support and sustain life. One of the
requirements that Mars requires to support life is plenty of oxygen. It is vital to acknowledge that
most life forms require oxygen for gaseous exchange, and without it, they are likely to die. The
planet Mars has underground salty water, which scientists believe has adequate oxygen to
support life. The other requirement Mars should have to support life is carbon, which is the

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building block of life. It is worth noting that carbon has different chemical bonds that make it
possible to form different life forms.
A critical examination of Mars indicates that it has carbon, the building block of life.
According to research conducted by the NASA rover curiosity, it is evident that Mars has
carbon, which made it possible for the formation of organic molecules on the planet. With the
help of a rover, scientists discovered large amounts of carbon in the watery lake, which was once
filled with Gale Crater. The complex carbon molecules found in the lake are estimated to be
approximately 3.5 billion years old (Greshko, 2018). It is vital to acknowledge that sulfur played
a vital role in preserving organic materials, especially when the rocks were exposed to the
surface. The other evidence that Mars has carbon is the seasons of methane, which were
observed with the help of the rover that sniffed Mar’s atmosphere. Additionally, Mars has
oxygen that supports life, embedded in underground salty water. Scientists discovered that Mars
contains adequate oxygen for microbes and other organisms to breathe in the underground salty
water (Netbum, 2018). It is vital to acknowledge that scientists in the laboratory established the
availability of oxygen. Additionally, the rover discovered manganese oxides, which only pints to
high volumes of oxygen on Mars.
In the past, Mars had the right conditions to support as compared to now due to many
reasons. One of the reasons Mars had the right conditions to support life in the past is that it had
plenty of water and minerals that could serve as food for microbes. It is worth noting that water
is an essential requirement for the sustenance of life. Notably, with adequate food, Mars was a
perfect planet for the survival of microbes because the microorganisms would not starve to
death. According to NASA scientists, Mars was more habitable in the past compared to now,
when it is too cold, and the waters have frozen (Chang, 2013). With the help of the rover

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Curiosity, NASA scientists could drill rocks on Mars, and they discovered plenty of underground
water. Also, in the past, the Curiosity scientists discovered numerous elements in the rocks,
including sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon, which are essential ingredients of life. Currently,
Mars is not better suited to sustain life because the temperatures are extremely low, and there is a
limited amount of water for sustenance of life (Chang, 2013). Additionally, meteors have been
landing on Mars and have destroyed rocks that contain essential elements, such as carbon and
oxygen.

Figure 2: Rocks on Mars

Ongoing Search for Life
In the past, the search for life on Mars was done through Viking experiments, which
employed numerous search techniques. In the initial experiment, the lander took a scoop of
Martian soil and added carbon compounds as food for the microbes in the soil. The other
experiment looked for evidence of photosynthesis, but the results were inconclusive. Currently,
microbiology technology has helped detect life forms on Mars. The most commonly used
method is DNA detection and sequencing, which helps detect complex molecules.

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An assessment of the search for life on Mars indicates certain areas to look at when
looking for evidence of life forms. One of the areas to look for evidence is underground water,
which scientists often believe can have carbon compounds that point to the existence of
microorganisms. Additionally, the scientists also looked for evidence in rocks, which are likely
to contain organic elements of decayed microbes (Joseph et al., 2019). Currently, scientists can
look for evidence of life on Mars in underground water sources, which may have organic
compounds that have decayed over the decades.
There are numerous things to look for in the search for evidence of life on Mars. One of
the things is the footprints of living organisms. Notably, footprints are evidence that organisms
existed on the planet. Additionally, seasons of methane also help establish the existence of life
forms on the planet. It is vital to acknowledge that seasons of methane contain carbon, which is
the building block of life. Also, scientists can look for fossils to study to establish when the
organisms existed on the planet. Fossils of organisms can DNA that can be used to establish the
type of organisms that existed on the planet.
A critical examination of the evidence that shows life on Mars indicates that the scientists
observed numerous things. One of the things they observed was the existence of manganese
oxide, which only points to the abundance of oxygen on the planet. Additionally, the scientists
observed carbon compounds embedded between rocks and under the waterbodies (Greshko,
2018). Additionally, in the Viking experiments, especially the one that uses Martian soil in
which carbon compounds, the microbes in the soil consumed carbon compounds.
Based on the observations, certain pieces of evidence have failed to prove the existence
of life on Mars. In the ongoing search for life on Mars, several missions were unsuccessful,
especially from mechanical failures of the spaceships. Notably, scientists have managed to

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collect some samples from the planet, and have to some extent, proved that some
microorganisms existed on Mars.
Perseverance will employ numerous techniques to search for life on Mars. One of the
technologies that will be used is Mastcam-Z, an advanced camera system with great imaging
capability. The instrument can help assess the mineralogy of the Martian surface and assist with
rover operations. The other technology that will be used is SuperCam, an instrument that can
provide imaging and chemical composition analysis. It is vital to acknowledge that SuperCam
can detect the presence of organic compounds in rocks from a distance (Jacobstein, 2021).
Additionally, the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) has a high-resolution
camera that helps determine the composition of surface materials on Mars. Notably, if the
ongoing search for life on Mars is successful, it would be significant in numerous ways. The
success would prove that life can exist on planets other than Earth. Remarkably, perseverance is
sent to collect data about Mars that can be used to assess if it can support life.

Conclusion
Scientists believe that life can exist on Mars despite the many attempts to prove it. Most
people believe that Mars is habitable because it is close to Earth. A critical examination of Mars
indicates that it has some requirements that can support and sustain life. One of its requirements
is carbon, which is the building block of life. With carbon, life forms can develop in any
environment if the necessary conditions are available. Also, Mars has oxygen, which is necessary
for the gaseous exchange of microbes and other living organisms. With adequate oxygen and
water, living organisms can survive on Mars. Additionally, some scientists have presented varied
evidence that tries to prove the existence of life on Mars. NASA scientists have presented data

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that reveal the existence of microbes in underground water. Generally, it would be a huge
success for NASA scientists if they were successful in determining if life exists on Mars.

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References

Chang, K. (2013). Mars could have supported life long ago, NASA says.
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/science/space/mars-could-have-supported-life-
nasa-says.html
Greshko, M. (2018). Building blocks of life found on Mars.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/mars-organic-compounds-methane-
curiosity-space-science
Jacobstein, N. (2021). NASA’s Perseverance: Robot laboratory on Mars. Science Robotics,
6(52), eabh3167.
Joseph, R. G., Dass, R. S., Rizzo, V., Cantasano, N., & Bianciardi, G. (2019). Evidence of life on
Mars. Journal of Astrobiology and Space Science Reviews, 1, 40-81.
NASA (2020). What is Mars? https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-
knows/what-is-mars-k4.html
Netbum, D. (2018). Mars could have enough molecular oxygen to support life, and scientists
figured out where to find it. https://phys.org/news/2018-10-mars-oxygen-life.html