An astrobiology professor claims that life on Mars was discovered 50 years ago by the Viking program but was unintentionally eradicated. The Viking landers performed biological analysis of Martian soil and found geological formations consistent with water flows, as well as small amounts of chlorinated organics. One experiment involved adding water to soil samples, and the professor suggests that the potential microbes may have been overwhelmed and died off. The search for life on Mars continues with the Perseverance rover and future missions aimed at retrieving samples.
A scientist suggests that life on Mars may have been discovered and inadvertently eradicated nearly 50 years ago during NASA's Viking program. The landers conducted experiments that initially hinted at the presence of metabolic processes, but subsequent tests failed to detect organic substances. One theory proposes that the inclusion of water in the experiments may have led to the demise of potential Martian bacteria. Another theory suggests that Martian life may have evolved to incorporate hydrogen peroxide into their cells, which could have reacted with the experiments' equipment, generating false positive results. While speculative, this notion raises the possibility that life on Mars was encountered and terminated shortly after its discovery.
