Houston We Have......Life?

Picture this: It’s Wednesday morning. I glance at the paper that’s sitting on the table, see the usual boring headlines and turn away. As I begin to walk away I do a double-take and come rushing back to the newspaper. Something about life and Mars? 

Yes, that is what many people saw this week when they looked at or watched the news. 


On March 12, 2013 NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory received data from a sample analysis done by SAM on the Curiosity Rover. (For more about the tools on Curiosity and how they work check out my post on Curiosity) The analysis was performed on a piece of Martian rock. It contained sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen and phosphorus. All of those are key ingredients for there to be life. 

Curiosity Rover Self Portrait
Photo Courtesy of space.com

One of the key reasons why there is still so much research being done on Mars is because scientists and the public alike want to know if Mars ever supported life forms. This report suggests that the answer to that question is yes. The sample analysis also showed possible pairings of chemicals that could suggest a chemical energy source for micro-organisms to thrive on. NASA is planning to have the Curiosity Rover test another sample to verify the results.

This is such a huge deal for so many reasons. Many people all around the world have speculated as to whether life ever could have existed elsewhere, but especially on Mars. The red planet has always been a prime candidate for the possibility of the previous existence of life but this new data suggests that it almost positively did. 

Imagine what this could mean! If the second test comes back from Curiosity with the same results then we could be very sure that there was life elsewhere than Earth. Many people have speculated that we are not alone. After all the probability that we are the only life in a universe that is constantly expanding and goes on infinitely, is very small. These results could spur a larger, more expansive search for life elsewhere in the universe. Which, of course, is very exciting.

Also, I think that we do have to take into consideration why there no longer is life on Mars. (If there ever was) I suggest that we look at the data from Curiosity with a thoughtful eye and make sure that our own very precious Earth does not someday end up as a big burned up planet with an atmosphere of carbon dioxide similar to that of Mars.

Looking at this incredible new information from Curiosity is an amazing opportunity that I think opens up a new part of space exploration. I also think that it raises lots of questions. I hope that as you close out of this blog and lay down this evening that you think about the fact that you live in a universe that is full of undiscovered things and that you ask yourself what you the possibility of other life means to you.