According to NASA, more than 50 years ago, the first probes could have found signs of life on Mars. However, due to not understanding the environment of the red planet, the spacecraft may have killed all the collected life before analyzing it.
One key to this hypothesis lies in organic compounds. Over the past 50 years, NASA has confirmed that these types of molecules are common on Mars, a situation that could suggest the planet once hosted living beings when Earth didn’t even know about its simplest inhabitants.
Mars may have hosted living beings before Earth did
A study published in Science Advances and led by Martin Bizzarro suggests that a meteorite carried water to the red planet, and with the amount of liquid, it was enough to create an ocean 300 meters thick across that world. According to the space agency, rovers have found organic matter on Mars; however, this is not a conclusive sign of life as it could have been created by non-biological chemistry.
The team of scientists analyzed 31 Martian meteorites, trying to trace the origin and history of the rocks. In addition to this, measurements of ultra-high-precision chromium isotopes were added. By observing the prevalence of these fragments on Mars, and with ice making up 10% of their masses, the authors discovered that 4.5 billion years ago, these meteorites brought water to our astral neighbor.
But there’s more. It seems that these water-containing meteorites, known as chondrites, came from a region of the outer Solar System known to contain prebiotic elements essential for the emergence of life. Both findings led to the conclusion that Mars may have hosted life before Earth, something that continues to amaze those who have been searching for signs of this phenomenon on the red planet for years.
On the other hand, NASA scientists have also detailed that there is evidence that billions of years ago, Mars’ climate was more similar to Earth’s, with a thicker atmosphere and liquid water flowing into rivers and seas.
“Since liquid water is necessary for life as we know it, scientists believe that Martian life, if it ever evolved, could have been sustained by key ingredients such as organic carbon, if present in sufficient quantities,” they said.
Like Earth, Mars has seasons, polar ice caps, volcanoes, canyons, and weather. It has a very thin atmosphere mainly composed of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon. People would not be able to breathe the air on Mars.