Life On Mars: Ongoing Search For Life

Introduction

As technology and its advancement become much more apparent, in combination with our deeper sense of curiosity, we have begun and will continue to unveil truths/findings to push humanity further than ever before. Humanity continues to question who we are, what life means, and as the doubts of planet Earth and its sustainability have become more and more of concern, humanity has even started to ask questions pertaining to the prolonging of our existence. The search for ‘Life on Mars’ has been significant in topic as a potential to both a solution/alternative to a new colonization for humans (Jorgenson, 2018) and more importantly, an answer to extra-terrestrial life. Mars, also known and referred to as the “Red Planet”, is the fourth planet in proximity to the sun, the second smallest, and is one of the most explored bodies in our solar system (NASA, 2019). Reasons, why scientists pay a particular interest into Mars, is for its life-supporting factors relative to other planets. After Planet Earth, Mars is the most habitable as it contains milder temperatures, a potentially human adaptive gravitation of 38%, and an atmosphere that protects from sun’s radiation. Planets such as the Moon and Venus that are located within closer orbits of Earth provide meagre essential resources suitable for life (Mars One, n.d.). Scientifically, there is not a substantial consensus on the definition of ‘life’, however for the purpose of this report, ‘life’ in its most basic form, is defined as; “little more than a set of chemical reactions” (Learn. Genetics, n.d.). Based on our current research, data, and findings, Mars cannot support ‘life’ as we know it, however, scientists have not lost hope as numerous rovers, flybys and orbiters sent on missions to visit the planet will continue to evaluate its future potential (NASA, 2019). This report will examine the belief and possibility of life on Mars, as well as the types of evidence in an ongoing search.

Can Mars Support Life?

As mentioned, Mars cannot support life as we know it, therefore leaving scientists’ answer for life on Mars as inconclusive – the search is still far from over. To be able to conclude whether Planet Mars can support life at all, it is necessary to use evidence in comparing the conditions of Mars to the universal requirements of what our understanding of a habitable planet might entail. The three most vital ingredients to sustain life on a planet as we know it: are a liquid medium where chemical reactions can occur, favourable conditions for raw materials including organic compounds and minerals, and sources of energy (Learn. Genetics, n.d.).

Planet Mars location lays further in orbit where temperatures are colder than that of Planet Earth, however, it is estimated, that Mars’ orbit lies within various estimates (Range of 0.38 – 10.0 Astronomical Units) in an area known as the “Habitable Zone” (Bolonkin, 2009). The “Circumstellar Habitable Zone” is defined as the optimal distance where a planet orbits around a star similar to our sun, for it to support the possibility of liquid water (Kasting et. Al., 1993). It is noted, that for liquid water to exist in short periods on Mars, it would have to be located at less than 30% of Mars’ surface where both a sufficient atmospheric pressure and temperature is satisfied (Haberle et. Al., 2001). On September 28th, 2015, NASA has battled this argument with confirmed evidence that a seasonal flow of water is reasoned to exist by its formation of dark, narrow streaks on several Martian Slopes (NASA, 2015) as depicted in Figure 1:

The persistent conversation of “following the water” on Mars had long been based on the possibility of ancient or frozen waters, however as shown in Figure 1, exhibits the first spectral image supporting liquid “Recurring Slope Lineae” – a water formation hypothesis. If water, as we know it on Planet Earth, dissolves, transports chemicals and nutrients and provides a media for chemical reactions to take place it (Royal Society of Chemistry, n.d.), we may be able to conclude the same properties of water to hold true on Mars given potential presence. Water is not only essential to sustain life, but critical for creating it, meaning without it, life as we know it could not exist.

Life on earth is made up of raw materials such as organic compounds and minerals. In evaluating the presence of raw materials on Mars, it is essential to search for these organic elements and compounds in both a continuous supply and a usable form (Learn. Genetics, n.d.). They are the basis of all life as we know it and are metabolized by living organisms to produce energy in the form of ATP (Jurtshuk, 1996), which is the molecule that provides energy to govern chemical processes that are necessary for living cells. Fortunately, there have been multiple findings of organic matter on Mars, however, it is uncertain whether these were purely of chemical origin to the planet, or whether the organic matter was created by ancient organisms. New evidence of “tough” organic molecules preserved in 3 billion-year-old sedimentary rocks have been discovered by NASA’s “Curiosity Rover” suggesting the possibility of ancient life (Brown, et. Al., 2018) through search of the Gale Crater. It is assumed that if life had ever existed before, it did so in the presence of a large body of water (NASA, n.d.a) – much like The Gale Crater. The Gale Crater has various signs of water being present over its history, meaning, there was an opportunity for primitive organisms to have survived (Wall, 2014) – evidence suggesting that Mars could have been more capable to host and evolve the existence of life millions of years in the past. The contents of old sedimentary rocks found certainly contain organic molecules made up of hydrogen and carbon and could include nitrogen, oxygen (Brown, et. Al., 2018). Although NASA has not identified the source of these material findings, it’s possible that these molecules were used as energy and cellular structure for existing life. They could have also merely existed without any relation to organismal function. Regardless, these findings still withhold “chemical cues to planetary conditions and processes” (Brown, et. Al., 2018; Eigenbrode, 2018) that allow scientists to formulate more developed and concise hypotheses in their continuing investigation.

Ongoing Search for Life

Through time, technology, and resources, humanity is persistent in forming hypotheses and answering their respective solutions relative to Mars and its potential existence for life. As NASA becomes more and more understanding of Life on Mars, they must draw-back on existing theories to amend and develop new findings. It has been a long and sought out process, however, humanity is determined to answer the defining question for Life on Mars. NASA’s Mars Exploration Program is uncovering the possibilities for present and past Life on Mars through their “Seek Signs for Life” mission strategy (NASA, n.d.b) depicted in Figure 2:

As displayed in Figure 2, there are different stages to the formation of NASA’s transition-themed program for Mars exploration. In the first theme titled “Follow the Water”, NASA set out missions such as the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Phoenix Lander and Mars Odyssey in the ambition of making discoveries related to records of past and present forms water on Mars (NASA, n.d.b). The success of the “Curiosity Rover” mission for example, has led to the acquisition of information pertaining to past evidence of water in Mount Sharp, also, its percussive drilling technique has enabled mineralogical and chemical analysis of soil samples (Good, 2018). The Curiosity Rover has also made discoveries of ‘bursts’ of Methane on Mars (Atreya et. al, 2007), that are thought to be the product of microorganisms similar to those on Earth. Although this makes an interesting discovery, it cannot be concluded whether its source be geological or biological (Good and Johnson, 2019) – and therefore not proof of life. These findings may not provide evidence, however, have been essential parts in studying Life on Mars, promoting the transition to the next theme of “Seek Signs of Life” – the search for potential and past habitats, or ‘life in itself’ (Mars. NASA, n.d.b). In an attempt to search for signs of life, the 2020 Mars Rover will contribute in putting together and answering scientific questions involving the determination of whether life ever arose on Mars, the climate and geology of Mars and its characterization, and most importantly, the preparation necessary for human exploration. The mission objectives are to search for environments qualified for microbial organisms to live, seek past signs of microbial life, store the gathering of samples, and examine atmospheric production of oxygen (NASA, n.d.c).

In a total of 47 missions, it is simple to conclude that with successes (19), come more failures (28) in respect to the uneasy search of Planet of Mars (Wenz, 2015). Humanities failures in its missions to Mars in no way negate Martian Life but have pushed us harder to improve our technologies and strategies to achieve the possibility of it. Hypothetically, if humanity was successful in proving Life on Mars, it would first and foremost settle a conclusion to the prime debate of whether extraterrestrial life truly exists – it would be revolutionary. It would change our perceptions on human life and would provide the foundation of endless curiosity. Humanity would become more prudent in determining whether life could exist on planets beyond our solar system or galaxy – essentially leading to greater consumption of humanities’ time and resources in exploring further reaches of space.

Conclusions

It is humanities’ curiosity that has driven us this far in the compiling of evidence, the amendment of past theories, and the formation of new ones to prove Life on Mars. Mars has become such a relevant topic in search of extra-terrestrial life among scientists because of its life-supporting factors, and its similarities in structure to that of Earth. As discussed, Mars may potentially consist of properties that would somewhat satisfy it as a habitable planet such as; containing sources of energy, having favourable conditions for raw materials, and a liquid medium where reactions can occur. The use of these conditions in determining Life on Mars does not exactly prove Life on Mars as they are only relevant to how a habitable planet as we know it is perceived. It is very frequent in the subject, that we only base our arguments using Earth as a benchmark – we are simply unaware of possibilities and criteria of life formation and sustainability elsewhere. As technology advances, however, we are getting closer to unravelling these foreign possibilities, therefore, our search is still far from over. It is up to scientists and their determination, humanities’ development of resources and technology, and time itself to have the necessary tools to determine an answer to this currently inconclusive argument.