Life on Mars

Latest about Life on Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover took this selfie while inside Mars' Gale crater on June 15, 2018, which was the 2,082nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission.

'Alien burp' may have been detected by NASA's Curiosity rover

By Ben Turner published

Methane tends to only be made by biological life, so scientists are wondering if the source is from alien microbes.

Extraterrestrial Life
An artist's depiction of NASA's Mars 2020 rover, Perseverance, storing samples of Martian rocks in tubes for future delivery to Earth. Perseverance will land inside Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.

NASA rover Perseverance survives death-defying plunge, lands safely on Mars

By Rafi Letzter published

NASA's rhinoceros-size Perseverance rover pulled off the most precise landing in Martian history Thursday (Feb. 18), touching down successfully in Jezero crater.

Mars
There seems to be a network of underground bodies of liquid water at Mars’ south pole.

Mars: Mounting evidence for subglacial lakes, but could they really host life?

By David Rothery published

The best place for life on Mars might be more than a kilometre below its surface!

Mars
Mars Perseverance - mission steps.

NASA's next Mars rover will land in less than 100 days

By Mike Wall published

The life-hunting Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, which launched on July 30, is scheduled to land inside Jezero Crater on the afternoon of Feb. 18, 2021.

Mars
Pieces of Mars made their way across the solar system to Antarctica, where they were discovered in the 1980s.

Scientists discover evidence of ancient, nitrogen-rich Martian groundwater hiding in Antarctica

By Rafi Letzter published

Martian meteorites found in Antarctica in the 1980s just gave up the ghosts of ancient water, rich in organic nitrogen, that existed on Mars.

Mars
Mars in the Northern Hemisphere

6 Reasons Astrobiologists Are Holding Out Hope for Life on Mars

By Isobel Whitcomb published

There are some very good reasons to believe that primitive lifeforms may lurk on the Red Planet.

Mars
NASA's Curiosity rover has found a sky-high amount of methane while sampling in Mars' Gale Crater (shown here).

Mars Rover Detects Primordial Signs of Life Under the Red Planet's Surface

By Isobel Whitcomb published

Don't get too excited just yet.

Mars
This NASA image shows a preserved river channel on Mars, with color overlaid to indicate elevation (blue is low, yellow is high). The range of elevation in the snapshot is about 115 feet (35 meters).

Mars Was Once Covered in Wide, Raging Rivers

By Rafi Letzter published

Mars was very wet until suddenly it wasn't. And scientists still aren't sure why.

Mars
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NASA Discovered Evidence of Life on Mars 40 Years Ago, Then Set It On Fire

By Brandon Specktor published

The Viking landers that touched down on Martian soil in the 1970s may have set all the evidence for carbon-based life-forms on fire, a new study suggests.

Mars
Curiosity, NASA's rover responsible for the new findings, took this self-portrait on Mars in 2015.

There May Be Life on Mars, But This NASA Report Doesn't Prove It

By Rafi Letzter published

NASA did find two more scraps of evidence about the kind of life that might exist on Mars. Here's what the new research really shows.

Mars
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