Is there life on Mars? No, but it was

"There is life on Mars or not - science is still unknown" - this popular aphorism comes from an old good Soviet film, it seems, is no longer relevant. Recent studies of the Red Planet have clarified the situation. Scientists can say that now there is no life, unless, of course, to understand by this term the presence of protein organisms. But what happened in the past? Groundwater borax, produced by rovers, showed that once this planet had all the conditions to become "lived-in". But why our neighbor in the solar system is not as lucky as the Earth? And in this regard, scientists have a believable answer.

Since mankind invented the telescope, this mysterious planet does not cease to disturb human imagination. R. Bradbury, A. Tolstoy and other writers composed works about the "Martians". The river beds, the seas and oceans seen when approaching the surface of the Red Planet, seemingly convincingly proved that with this water availability, life simply must be. It was only twenty years after the first satellite was sent into space, as NASA launched a government program whose mission was to fly to Mars to find life there.

In 1976, two NASA spacecraft landed on the surface of the planet, named after the god of war. "Vikings" have transferred to the Earth numerous photographs of lifeless brown-red deserts, as well as the results of analyzes of the atmosphere, soils and deeper rocks. Thus, it became clear why Mars is seen as a flickering red disk. The predominant soil on the planet is ferrous oxide. This "rust" is also found on Earth. What relation does this discovery have to the question of whether there is life on Mars? The most direct: such soils are formed in the presence of water and free oxygen and in a warm climate.

But the chemical analysis of the atmosphere of the planet disappointed people. Free oxygen in it was catastrophically small. If you answer the question of whether there is life on Mars, based on air indicators, then the answer is a definitive "no". But the soils? Apparently, at one time oxygen was present here in the same quantities as on Earth. To produce it requires a plant life. And, most likely, she once was in abundance on the Red planet. This is evidenced by methane, also present in the Martian atmosphere.

Ground samples at the North and South poles of the planet made the hearts of the explorers tremble. In ice caps, scientists have discovered some of the classic water ice. Taking into account the channel of huge waterways, and also the fact that the Red Planet is farther from the Sun farther than the Earth, so the climate there is much colder, we can say that the conditions for the birth of bionics were. This, of course, is not the answer to the question of whether there is life on Mars. But still this information gives some hope. In 1984, an event occurred that again led the broad masses to become interested in whether there is life on Mars. The fact is that a 2-kilogram meteorite was found in Antarctica, which fell from this planet. In 1996, he was examined and ... found in it the remains of petrified primitive bacteria. The age of these microorganisms is three billion years. Despite the skepticism of many scientists, this finding allows us to hope that life on our nearest neighbor-planet was still there. But died as a result of attacks of giant asteroids.