ϻ� essay: life on mars and its inhabitant date: march 15th 2013 first of all ‘mars ’ is a planet which is normally refer to as the earth’s twins, why? because it has the same features of surface reminiscent both on the impact craters of the moon the volcanoes, valleys. life on mars for centuries people have speculated about the possibility of life on mars owing to the planet's proximity and similarity to earth. Serious searches for evidence of life began in the 19th century, and continue via telescopic investigations and landed missions. While early work focused on phenomenology and bordered on fantasy, modern scientific inquiry has emphasized the search for chemical biosignatures of. Life on mars the possibilities the ongoing search mars is the fourth planet in the solar system and its physical conditions are nearest to earth in view of life sustenance.

It is home to certain dramatic goological features such as the25km high mountain, olympus mons and the 30 miles long canyon system. Mars has an important place in human imagination due to the belief by some that life existed on mars. Giovanni schiapparelli in 1870 was the first person to speculate upon the possibility of life on mars.

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The linear features that were then thought to be canals made by intelligent life forms are now known to be dry ancient water courses. A famous but as yet unproven feature is ‘the face’ which is said to have been shaped by artificial methods. Although the surface of mars is now apparently dry, we have no knowledge of the subsurface soil layers. Research into extremophiles on earth may tell us something about the type of life possible on mars, but in whatever form, the common divident to all these possibilities is the presence of water. Even yet water may be present as a liquid on the surface when underground deposits burst forth for a brief flash flood. The 'triple point' is the combination of pressure 6.1 millibars and temperature 0.01 °c at which water can exist simultaneously in all three states, as seen during ice skating. Many spacecraft have been sent to mars from earth to study the planet's surface, climate, and geography.

A historically important mission of the past was the nasa’s viking mission in 1975 which yielded very successful results. When imagining locations where extraterrestrial life could potentially dwell, few places inspire the imagination like one of earth 39 s closest neighbors. For centuries, man has looked to mars and imagined it as a home for other beings.

Over the last fifty years, various missions to the red planet have sought to determine the probability of such an evolution. But how likely is life on mars? this image from nasa's curiosity rover looks south of the rover's landing site on mars towards mount sharp. This is part of a larger,high resolution color mosaic made from images obtained by curiosity's mast camera. Credit: nasa/jpl caltech/ms a habitable environment when searching for life, most astrobiologists agree that water is key. All forms of terrestrial life require water, and while it is possible that life could evolve without the precious liquid, it is easier to search for conditions that are known to be optimal, rather than conditions we suppose could be.

The planet today is dry and barren, with most of its water locked up in the polar ice caps. The planet 39 s thin atmosphere allows radiation from the sun to irradiate the surface of the planet, adding to the environment 39 s challenges. If life exists on mars today, it is likely hiding beneath the surface, perhaps hiding in a shielded water source. Scientists think that, in the past, water may have flowed across the surface in rivers and streams, and that vast oceans covered the planet. Over time, the water was lost into space, but early conditions on the wetter planet could have been right for life to evolve. Over the last four billion years, earth has received a number of visitors from mars. Our planet has been bombarded by rocks blown from the surface of the red planet, one of the few bodies in the solar system scientists have samples from.

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Of the 34 martian meteorites, scientists have determined that three have the potential to carry evidence of past life on mars. A meteorite found in antarctica made headlines in 1996 when scientists claimed that it could contain evidence of traces of life on mars. The martian rock contained structures resembled the fossilized remains of bacteria like lifeforms.

Follow up tests revealed organic material, though the debate over whether or not the material was caused by biological processes wasn 39 t settled until 2012, when it was determined that these vital ingredients had been formed without the involvement of life. A fracture tan and tunnels in boxes are similar in size and shape to tunnels associated with dna in terrestrial rocks. Credit: oregon state university scientists also found structures resembling fossilized nanobacteria on the nakhla meteorite.

They determined that as much as three fourths of the organic material found on the meteorite may not stem from contamination by earth. A third meteorite, the shergotty, contains features suggestive of biofilm remnants and microbial communities. All of these samples provide tantalizing hints of the possibility of life in the early history of the red planet.

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But a fresh examination of the surface has the potential to reveal even more insights into the evolution of life on mars. Nasa's viking probes were the first ever to successfully set footpad on mars in a powered landing. The viking 1 lander set down in july 1976 and didn't go silent until november 1982. Credit: nasa credit: nasa searching for life the first closeups of the red planet came from flyby photos taken by mariner 4.

Followed up with images from the viking orbiters, the crafts provided detailed images of the surface that revealed that the surface of mars was dry, but contained landforms that indicated it may not have always been so. Ocean beds, signs of erosion, and the vast polar caps inspired hope that mars could have at one point hosted life. When nasa set the first lander down on the martian surface, one of the experiments performed sought traces for life.

Though viking 39 s results were deemed inconclusive, they paved the way for other probes into the environment of the red planet. Mars explored: landers and rovers since 1971 infographic exploration of the red planet was put on hold for more than two decades. When examination of the planet resumed, scientists focused more on the search for habitable environments than for life, and specifically on the search for water. The slew of rovers, orbiters, and landers revealed evidence of water beneath the crust, hot springs ndash considered an excellent potential environment for life to evolve ndash and occasional rare precipitation. Isn 39 t a life finding mission, there are hopes that it could pinpoint locations that later visitors might explore and analyze.

Future mission to mars could include sample returns, bringing pieces of the martian crust back to earth to study. More experiments could be run by hand on earth than can be performed by a remote robot explorer, and would be more controlled than meteorites that have lain on earth. are we the martians? the transfer of material from mars to earth and presumably back again has sparked some debate about the possibility of contamination early in the history of life. Some scientists argue that a meteorite from earth could have traveled to mars mdash or vice versa.