Does mars have life?

However, cumulative evidence is now clear that during the ancient Noachian time period, the surface environment of Mars had liquid water and may have been habitable for microorganisms. The existence of habitable conditions does not necessarily indicate the presence of life. read more

Mars has been teasing us for a long, long time. It has canals! announced Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1877. No, it doesn't, responded NASA's Mariner 4 spacecraft when it flew by the planet in 1965. But there might still be microbial life, we all insisted. read more

Liquid water is necessary for known life and metabolism, so if water was present on Mars, the chances of it having supported life may have been determinant. The Viking orbiters found evidence of possible river valleys in many areas, erosion and, in the southern hemisphere, branched streams. read more

We have learned that even though Mars is more similar to Earth than anywhere else in the solar system, and therefore is a good place to look for life, it is still different from Earth in many ways. A compass points to the north pole on Earth because our whole planet acts like a giant magnet, but Mars does not act this way. read more