Did NASA's Viking Landers Unintentionally End Martian Life?

Astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch suggests that NASA's Viking landers, which conducted experiments on Mars in 1976, may have inadvertently destroyed Martian microbes by adding water to soil samples, potentially overwhelming life forms adapted to Mars's arid conditions. This theory raises the possibility that life on Mars was present but eradicated before detection, prompting calls for more cautious future missions to avoid harming potential extraterrestrial life.