For centuries, people have imagined the possibility of life on Mars. But long-held dreams that Martians could be invaders of Earth, or little green men, or civilized superbeings, all have been undercut by missions to our neighboring planet that have, so far, uncovered no life at all.
Yet visits to the Red Planet by unmanned probes from NASA and the European Space Agency have found evidence that a prime condition for life once may have existed: water.
"There has been a tremendous amount of very exciting findings this year that Mars once contained actively flowing, low-saline, near-neutral-pH water -- pretty much the type of water where you find life on Earth today," said Alison Olcott Marshall, assistant professor of geology at the University of Kansas. "This has made people think that it's possible that life could have existed on Mars, although most researchers agree it's unlikely to exist today -- at least on the surface -- as conditions on the surface of Mars are incredibly harsh."
Olcott Marshall is working with her colleague and husband, Craig Marshall, associate professor of geology at KU, to improve the way scientists detect condensed aromatic carbon, thought to be a chemical signature of astrobiology.
"If we're going to identify life on Mars, it will likely be the fossil remnants of the chemicals once synthesized by life, and we hope our research helps strengthen the ability to evaluate the evidence collected on Mars," Craig Marshall said.
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