• Question: What is happening right now to see if there is life on mars?

    Asked by Emma to Andrew, Hina, Ian, Kathryn, Leah-Nani, Xu on 15 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Andrew Margetts-Kelly

      Andrew Margetts-Kelly answered on 15 Jun 2018:


      Currently there are rovers (named Curiosity, Spirit and Opportunity) on the surface of Mars travelling to areas of interest to do experiments for signs of life.
      Just last week it was announced that one of these rovers, Curiosity, has discovered organic material in the ancient rocks, it’s not a smoking gun yet but it is tantalising evidence that life could have existed a long time ago.
      https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-finds-ancient-organic-material-mysterious-methane-on-mars

      In the future we’re planning to send more probes to Mars too. One is called ExoMars. It has been designed to look for life. My Friend designed the wheels for the rover 🙂 the picture below shows one of the test models.

    • Photo: Kathryn Burrows
    • Photo: Leah-Nani Alconcel

      Leah-Nani Alconcel answered on 18 Jun 2018:


      There are multiple rovers on Mars’ surface, looking for clues about whether or not life could have developed on Mars in the early days of the planet’s existence!

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