Viking Spaceship Revealed Life on Mars 40 Years Back

NASA’s Viking spaceship was thought to discover signs of life 40 years ago. Although NASA claims that traces of life on Mars were only found with the help of Curiosity rover, there is evidence which proves life on the Red Planet was attested since 1976 during Viking rover mission. The Viking spaceship 1 and 2 were the first rovers which have ever landed on Mars. These space crafts were the first to capture high-resolution pictures, being also developed to collect geological material.

• NASA has asked for the reexamination of some martian soil samples.
• Astronomers believe proofs of life on Mars were dating back to 40 years ago.

Patricia Ann Straat and Gilbert Levin, who are scientists from the US National Institutes of Health and Arizona State University, argued that the samples of soils which were gathered 40 years ago were undergone another set of tests. This study was recently issued as part of the Journal of Astrobiology.

Viking spacecraft had initiated three searches, collecting samples of soil from Mars. One of the searches was conducted based on the Labeled Release experiment. Experts have tested the soil that was collected by Viking spaceship, mixing it with water rich in nutrients, in an attempt to find signs of life.

The experiment was meant to reveal the metabolized nutrients in the water if the earth contained traces of life. Scientists were surprised to notice that the sample had reacted when water was poured on them. The LR survey compared the results from this test to results of the tests conducted on earth from Antarctica. The outcome demonstrated that the sample from Mars contained traces of microscopic life.

Nevertheless, the other two samples collected from Mars did not prove to contain organic material, meaning there were no traces of life. NASA assumed that the false positive of the LR test must be the result of a non-biological operation. However, Dr. Straat and Dr. Levin decided not to give up and conducted a new study meant to reexamine the soil samples.

The authors of the study have stated that the Red Planet’s environment is not able to nurture life, the LR results being attributed to an unidentified oxidant present in the earth of Mars. NASA is of the opinion that a reexamination will make any doubts disappear. The probability of life on Mars should be expected to appear. Dr. Chris McKay, who is a senior editor of Astrobiology and he also works for NASA, has claimed that even if the samples gathered by the Viking spaceship do not represent high grounds that there is life on Mars, people must think of the possibility.

Image courtesy of: flickr