For decades, the search for alien life has captured the attention of people, with Mars serving as a central destination in this cosmic endeavor.
A scientist’s discovery raises interesting issues as we wait for the much awaited Mars Sample Return program in the early 2030s: Could life on Mars have been found nearly 50 years ago, only for humankind to accidentally extinguish it during first exploration?
The Unexpected Experiments of the Viking Project Prior to contemporary rovers such as Curiosity venturing into the Martian landscape, NASA’s Viking Project accomplished noteworthy benchmarks.
After two landers successfully landed on Mars, they carried out ground-breaking biological experiments to look for indications of life and took the first pictures ever taken of the Red Planet’s surface. However, the data produced contradictory results and perplexed scientists. In one experiment, radioactive carbon and nutrient-rich water were added to Martian soil to look for signs of microbial activity.
At first, there were signs of radioactive gas, which could indicate the presence of microorganisms. However, further attempts did not yield comparable outcomes. Question marks and a discussion concerning the possibility of life on Mars were raised by this discrepancy. Could We Have Submerged Martian Microbes in Water?
The results of the Viking tests have long been a subject of debate, and Dirk Schulze-Makuch of the Technical University of Berlin, who specializes in planetary habitability and astrobiology, provides an interesting counterargument.
In an article that was posted on BigThink, Schulze-Makuch makes the argument that adding water to the experiment might have been a critical error that caused the prospective Martian bacteria to perish. By drawing comparisons to life on Earth that can survive in harsh environments, like salt rocks, Schulze-Makuch hypothesizes that the introduction of water could have been fatal to any microbial life that might have been on Mars. Water may have killed these bacteria, just as drowning in an unexpected flood would have suppressed any appetite.
This could explain the lack of consistent results in the later attempts to detect microbial activity through the emission of radioactive gas. Is Hydrogen Peroxide the Secret to Survival on Mars? Prior to this, Schulze-Makuch had put up a radical theory regarding the possible makeup of life on Mars.
He hypothesized that as a defense against the hostile environment, life on Mars would absorb hydrogen peroxide into their cells. Hydrogen peroxide would offer multiple advantages, including a low freezing point, a source of oxygen, and hygroscopic properties. In a 2007 study, Schulze-Makuch and co-author Joop M. Houtkooper speculated that Martian life could utilize hydrogen peroxide in their cells. Given the Viking experiments, this idea becomes more important.
The materials were heated before examination by the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, an apparatus utilized in the research. The heat may have killed any hydrogen peroxide-containing Martian cells, causing processes that produced carbon dioxide, the gas that the device was able to detect.
The Unsettling ‘What If’ While speculative, Schulze-Makuch’s ideas open up a tantalizing “what if” scenario: Did we inadvertently discover Martian life almost five decades ago, only to extinguish it through well-intentioned but ultimately detrimental experiments? This notion evokes comparisons to cinematic portrayals of aliens wreaking havoc on Earth, but here, humanity could be the unwitting antagonist.
As scientists continue to unravel the mysteries of Mars and prepare for the upcoming Mars Sample Return program, these reflections on past experiments raise important questions about the methods employed in the search for extraterrestrial life. The pursuit of knowledge, even when marked by setbacks, underscores the significance of human curiosity and the ongoing exploration of the cosmos.