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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSome scientists believe life may have started on Mars -- here's why
By Nicole Karlis, Salon
Published February 07, 2021
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On February 18, NASA's Perseverance rover will parachute through thin Martian air, marking a new era in red planet exploration. Landing on the Jezero Crater, which is located north of the Martian equator, will be no easy feat. Only about 40 percent of the missions ever sent to Mars succeed, according to NASA. If it does, Perseverance could drastically change the way we think about extraterrestrial life. That's because scientists believe Jezero, a 28 mile-wide impact crater that used to be a lake, is an ideal place to look for evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars.
Once it lands, Perseverance will collect and store Martian rock and soil samples, which will eventually be returned to Earth. This is known as a "sample-return mission," an extremely rare type of space exploration mission due to its expense. (Indeed, there has never been a sample return mission from another planet.) And once Martian soil is returned to Earth in a decade, scientists will set about studying the material to figure out if there was ever ancient life on Mars.
Yet some scientists believe that these samples could answer an even bigger question: Did life on Earth originate on Mars?
https://www.rawstory.com/life-on-mars/
BeerBarrelPolka
(1,202 posts)that it did. My ex wife is from Mars. Of course that doesn't prove intelligent life started there.
turbinetree
(24,683 posts)csziggy
(34,131 posts)Irish_Dem
(46,492 posts)That's neat.
ThoughtCriminal
(14,046 posts)Called it in 1967.
Irish_Dem
(46,492 posts)Maybe some of us are Martians, some of us Earthlings.
QOPs don't seem quite human to me.
edhopper
(33,479 posts)Docreed2003
(16,850 posts)edhopper
(33,479 posts)Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids.
Irish_Dem
(46,492 posts)it is going to be a long, long time.
Irish_Dem
(46,492 posts)That is if conditions all line up.
edhopper
(33,479 posts)brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no