spacetoday.net: Scientists raise hopes for Mars life

Posted: Sat, Feb 26, 2005, 9:27 AM ET (1427 GMT)
Mars Express in orbit (ESA illustration)

Planetary scientists studying Mars said at a conference Friday that there is growing evidence that the planet may harbor primitive life of some kind, but exactly what and where it is can only be answered by future spacecraft missions. Speaking at a Mars Express science conference in Europe Friday, Vittorio Formisano reiterated previous claims that an instrument on the ESA mission has detected traces of both methane and formaldehyde in the planet's atmosphere. While methane has a number of possible sources besides life, formaldehyde is much harder to explain in the quantities detected by Mars Express other than a byproduct of the oxidation of methane produced by bacteria. However, other scientists are skeptical of the formaldehyde detection, noting its spectral signature in the Mars Express data does not match laboratory spectra well. A quarter of the 250 scientists polled at the conference said they believe life exists on Mars today, and 75 percent said the planet was home to primitive life in the past. Confirming the presence of life, however, will require future spacecraft missions that are able to drill underground where any life would be expected to exist.