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Life on Mars

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Life on Mars

The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no conclusive evidence of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ancient Noachian time period, the surface environment of Mars had liquid water and may have been habitable for microorganisms, but habitable conditions do not necessarily indicate life. Scientific investigations for potential life on Mars began in the 19th century and continue today with telescopes and robotic probes searching for water, chemical biosignatures in the soil and rocks at the planet's surface, and biomarker gases in the atmosphere. Mars is of particular interest for the study of the origins of life because of its similarity to the early Earth. This is especially true since Mars has a cold climate and lacks plate tectonics or continental drift, so it has remained almost unchanged since the end of the Hesperian period. At least two-thirds of Mars's surface is more than 3.5 billion years old, and it could have been habitable 4.48 billion years ago, 500 million years before the earliest known Earth lifeforms; Mars may thus hold the best record of the prebiotic conditions leading to life, even if life does not or has never existed there. Following the confirmation of the past existence of surface liquid water, the Curiosity, Perseverance and Opportunity rovers started searching for evidence of past life, including a past biosphere based on autotrophic, chemotrophic, or chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms, as well as ancient water, including fluvio-lacustrine environments (plains related to ancient rivers or lakes) that may have been habitable. The search for evidence of habitability, fossils, and organic compounds on Mars is now a primary objective for space agencies. The discovery of organic compounds inside sedimentary rocks and of boron on Mars are of interest as they are precursors for prebiotic chemistry. Such findings, along with previous discoveries that liquid water was clearly present on ancient Mars, further supports the possible early habitability of Gale Crater on Mars. Currently, the surface of Mars is bathed with ionizing radiation, and Martian soil is rich in perchlorates toxic to microorganisms. Therefore, the consensus is that if life exists—or existed—on Mars, it could be found or is best preserved in the subsurface, away from present-day harsh surface processes. In June 2018, NASA announced the detection of seasonal variation of methane levels on Mars. Methane could be produced by microorganisms or by geological means. The European ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter started mapping the atmospheric methane in April 2018, and the 2022 ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin was planned to drill and analyze subsurface samples before the programme's indefinite suspension, while the NASA Mars 2020 rover Perseverance, having landed successfully, will cache dozens of drill samples for their potential transport to Earth laboratories in the late 2020s or 2030s. As of 8 February 2021, an updated status of studies considering the possible detection of lifeforms on Venus (via phosphine) and Mars (via methane) was reported. In October 2024, NASA announced that it may be possible for photosynthesis to occur within dusty water ice exposed in the mid-latitude regions of Mars. On 10 September 2025, NASA reported Perseverance found a possible biosignature in a Jezero Crater rock the previous year, hinting at ancient microbial activity.

Tables

· Habitability
Water
Water
Habitability factors
Water
Habitability factors
Liquid water activity (aw)Past/future liquid (ice) inventoriesSalinity, pH, and Eh of available water
Chemical environment
Chemical environment
Habitability factors
Chemical environment
Habitability factors
mw- .mw- Nutrients: C, H, N, O, P, S, essential metals, essential micronutrientsFixed nitrogenAvailability/mineralogyToxin abundances and lethality: Heavy metals (e.g., Zn, Ni, Cu, Cr, As, Cd, etc., some essential, but toxic at high levels)Globally distributed oxidizing soils
Energy for metabolism
Energy for metabolism
Habitability factors
Energy for metabolism
Habitability factors
Solar (surface and near-surface only)Geochemical (subsurface) OxidantsReductantsRedox gradients
Conducive physical conditions
Conducive physical conditions
Habitability factors
Conducive physical conditions
Habitability factors
TemperatureExtreme diurnal temperature fluctuationsLow pressure (Is there a low-pressure threshold for terrestrial anaerobes?)Strong ultraviolet germicidal irradiationGalactic cosmic radiation and solar particle events (long-term accumulated effects)Solar UV-induced volatile oxidants, e.g., O2−, O−, H2O2, O3Climate/variability (geography, seasons, diurnal, and eventually, obliquity variations)Substrate (soil processes, rock microenvironments, dust composition, shielding)High CO2 concentrations in the global atmosphereTransport (aeolian, groundwater flow, surface water, glacial)
Habitability factors
Water
Liquid water activity (aw)Past/future liquid (ice) inventoriesSalinity, pH, and Eh of available water
Chemical environment
mw- Nutrients: C, H, N, O, P, S, essential metals, essential micronutrientsFixed nitrogenAvailability/mineralogyToxin abundances and lethality: Heavy metals (e.g., Zn, Ni, Cu, Cr, As, Cd, etc., some essential, but toxic at high levels)Globally distributed oxidizing soils
Energy for metabolism
Solar (surface and near-surface only)Geochemical (subsurface) OxidantsReductantsRedox gradients
Conducive physical conditions
TemperatureExtreme diurnal temperature fluctuationsLow pressure (Is there a low-pressure threshold for terrestrial anaerobes?)Strong ultraviolet germicidal irradiationGalactic cosmic radiation and solar particle events (long-term accumulated effects)Solar UV-induced volatile oxidants, e.g., O2−, O−, H2O2, O3Climate/variability (geography, seasons, diurnal, and eventually, obliquity variations)Substrate (soil processes, rock microenvironments, dust composition, shielding)High CO2 concentrations in the global atmosphereTransport (aeolian, groundwater flow, surface water, glacial)

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