New clue to alien life on Mars could settle ‘intense debate’: study
It’s one small step for man, one potential giant leap for Martiankind.
Scientists have identified a region on Mars that could support living organisms, potentially bringing us a step closer to discovering life there. The findings could settle an “intense debate” over the Red Planet’s chemical makeup.
The cosmic research was published last month in the pre-print server arXiv, meaning it has yet to be peer-reviewed, but could nonetheless prove a major stride in the search for extraterrestrials.
Dubbed Acidalia Planitia, this 1,800-mile plain on our neighbor’s northern hemisphere harbors the right amount of water, heat and energy in its subsurface soil for martian microbes to thrive, the Daily Mail reported.
Accessing the supposed habitable region would require us to drill miles below the surface of Mars. Cobalt – stock.adobe.com
“[It is] a promising target area for future missions in the search for extant life in Mars’ subsurface,” declared study author Andrea Butturini of the University of Barcelona while discussing Acidalia Planitalia.
The possible lifeforms in question are methanogens, methane-producing bacteria that can live in extreme environments such as high temperatures, ultra-saline water or even regions with high radiation levels.
As they are anaerobic, meaning they don’t breathe oxygen, these microscopic superheroes don’t require oxygen to survive, and can also survive sans organic nutrients or sunlight.
Methanogens, methane-producing bacteria that thrive in extreme environments like swamps and animal intestines. “[It is] a promising target area for future missions in the search for extant life in Mars’ subsurface,” declared study author Andrea Butturini of the University of Barcelona. NASA, ESA, Maryland Astrobiology Consortium
To wit: On Earth, these extremophiles — animals that can thrive in extreme environments — can reside anywhere from swamps to dead matter and the intestinal tracts of animals like termites and cattle.
Acidalia Planitia would prove a similarly harsh but habitable environment, postulated researchers.
A working prototype of the ExoMars rover, now called the Rosalind Franklin rover, at the Airbus Defense Space facility on February 7, 2019 in Stevenage, England. Getty Images
Butturini and his team had reportedly happened across the potential alien oasis after investigating possible locations with the right environment to support extraterrestrial entities.
By analyzing data from Mars orbiters and previous Red Planet missions, scientists managed to pinpoint a possible life-supporting subsurface zone approximately 2.6 to 5.46 miles beneath the planet’s inhabitable exterior.
This potential bacterial bouillabaisse has evidence of groundwater and geothermal heat that could sustain life underground, safe from the inhospitable temps and low pressure of the surface.
The radioactive decay of elements like thorium produces the essential heat and energy and clay and carbonate deposits suggest the existence of possible subsurface water in Acidalia Planitia.
Temps in this supposed subterranean oasis average between 35 degrees and 50 degrees Fahrenheit — on the surface they average about -80 degrees F — the perfect environment for Martian soil to mix with water.
“In this region, the radiogenic heat-producing elements (those produced by radioactive decay) are at the highest abundance and subsurface water is likely,” study authors write.
Where there is water, there could potentially be bacterial life.
Getting to this alleged interplanetary primordial soup is another matter entirely.
While the European Space Agency (ESA) plans to launch their Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars in 2028, the drill can only probe seven feet below the surface — not nearly deep enough to reach the potentially habitable environment.
If the researchers’ theory is proven correct, it will not only prove the existence of Martian microorganisms but also provide strong evidence for biologically-generated methane on Mars.
