Mars continues to emerge as a promising candidate for hosting life, either in its past or potentially even now. On Monday, researchers announced a significant discovery: a reservoir of liquid water located miles beneath the planet’s surface. This finding, based on Marsquake data collected by NASA’s InSight lander, offers new hope in the search for ancient alien microbes on the Red Planet.
The study, published in Nature Astronomy, focuses on Acidalia Planitia, an ancient Martian plain. It suggests that this region may possess the necessary conditions to support microbial life, particularly methanogens. These extremophiles are known for thriving in extreme environments on Earth, such as swamps, marshes, decaying organic matter, and even the digestive systems of herbivores. Methanogens produce methane—a crucial gas for life—through a process called hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, converting carbon dioxide into methane.
The team used the data collected by InSight’s seismometer, which records waves triggered when Marsquakes occur and can reveal what material they pass through. By analyzing the wavelengths and timing of the waves, scientists determined that they passed through rocks that were saturated with water. This is akin to how an X-ray or CAT scan can reveal what’s inside a human body.
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InSight’s measurements also revealed that the depth of the water was influenced by its chemical composition. The scientists conclude that a deep layer of fractured igneous rock, saturated with water, best explains the quake signals. It would be a good place to look for life on Mars, as it shields the water from harmful radiation and extreme temperatures.
But this is not the first time Mars has been hailed as a haven for alien life. The early results from NASA’s Viking landers, which landed on the Red Planet in 1976 and 1977, indicated that microscopic fossils of bacteria-like organisms were present in the soil. However, further analysis ultimately ruled out this interpretation, leading to widespread disillusionment about the prospect of finding life on Mars.
More recently, the Curiosity rover’s analyses of pockmarked rock formations found in Gale Crater and elsewhere have suggested that the area was once a lake bed. The upcoming mission of the Perseverance rover is to search an area with a record of flowing water for signs of biological activity.
While finding evidence of life on Mars, even dead microbes, would be great, the discovery would likely have much more significant implications if we learned that our two worlds are genetically similar. Such a find would suggest that our solar system has a “second genesis,” in which life accidentally hitchhiked between planets on dirt clods kicked into space by meteor impacts. Finding life on Mars would imply that it could happen in other worlds. This would be a truly spectacular discovery.
