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The Search for Life on Mars

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Book cover Planetary and Interstellar Processes Relevant to the Origins of Life

Abstract

Mars appears to have no life on its surface today. However, the presence of fluvial features provides evidence that liquid water was once present on the martian surface. By analogy with Earth, life may have originated on Mars early in its history, possibly during the end of the late heavy bombardment. Analysis of the one meteorite from Mars which dates to this early time appears to contain evidence of this early environment and possibly life. As the climate cooled and liquid water became unavailable, life would have eventually died out. The cold deserts of Antarctica provide a glimpse of what martian ecosystems might have been like as conditions worsened. The search for fossil evidence of past life on Mars may provide the first direct indication of life beyond Earth.

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  1. Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, 94035, USA

    Christopher P. Mckay

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  1. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA

    D. C. B. Whittet

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Mckay, C.P. (1997). The Search for Life on Mars. In: Whittet, D.C.B. (eds) Planetary and Interstellar Processes Relevant to the Origins of Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8907-9_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8907-9_14

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