According to a new research study, if there is life on Mars, it would likely exist beneath its rocky surface, preventing NASA’s rovers from finding it. Thus far, Curiosity has drilled to a depth of approximately three inches, finding absolutely no signs of life. However, after a team of researchers investigated a series of Martian meteorite samples found on Earth, it’s now believed, if life is to be discovered somewhere on the Red Planet, it will be at much greater depths than previously explored.
The meteorites represent large chunks of rock that have been blasted away from the Mars’ surface by large-scale impacts from asteroids and comets. Some of these rocky fragments get dragged into the Earth’s gravitational field, before falling to the ground.
As part of the latest research study, scientists discovered that the Martian meteorite samples - many of which are basic igneous rocks - released methane when mashed. According to Brock University’s Nigel Blamey, the study’s team leader, methane and hydrogen are two of the critical building blocks for developing microbial life. “Any life on Mars is likely to be in the subsurface,” he concluded.
Researchers have long debated the significance of methane within Mars’ atmosphere, with no consensus having yet been reached. While Blamey and colleagues do not claim to have found life on Mars, they suggest there is ample food source within the planet’s subsurface.
However, some scientists have considered the possibility that mankind may have already “contaminated” the Red Planet with microbial life, following successive space missions. Indeed, despite all space-bound equipment having undergone rigorous sterilization, some particularly resilient microbes are still able to survive.
“Every mission to Mars makes it dirtier,” claimed NASA planetary protection officer Catherine Conley, who is tasked with the weighty responsibility of ensuring we do not harmfully contaminate the rest of the galaxy with Earth-borne life.
However, according to the space agency, these life forms are unlikely to survive the journey, or the inhospitable conditions associated with the Martian surface.
The study, entitled Evidence for methane in Martian meteorites, was published in the June 16 issue of the journal Nature.