A NASA research team of scientists at the Johnson Space Center and at Stanford University has found evidence that strongly suggests primitive life may have existed on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago.
The NASA-funded team found the first organic molecules thought to be of Martian origin; several mineral features characteristic of biological activity; and possible microscopic fossils of primitive, bacteria-like organisms inside of an ancient Martian rock that fell to Earth as a meteorite. This array of indirect evidence of past life will be reported in the Aug. 16 issue of the journal Science, presenting the investigation to the scientific community at large to reach a future consensus that will either confirm or deny the team's conclusion.
Many people ask how scientists know the meteorite originated on Mars. Most Martian meteorites are 1.3 billion years old or less, much younger than typical igneous meteorites from asteroids which are 4.5 billion years old. They also have higher contents of volatiles than igneous meteorites. The conclusive evidence that this meteorite originated on Mars comes from the measurement of gases trapped in its interior. The trapped gases match those that Viking measured in the Martian atmosphere.
This NASA release somewhat supports the idea that life may have existed on Mars. NASA funded scientists prod at the meteorite ALH84001. This information strongly lends support to the possibility that microbes might have been present in the Martian meteorite when it resided on Mars.
A statement of the possibility of the existence of microbial life in the meteorite. However, Daniel's belief in the idea that this is so is not totally concrete.
A statement that shows that not all scientists are cemented in their thoughts that life did exist on Mars. An effort to keep the nature of science and the scientific theory pure as they maintain that fact is only fact until proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.
