• Space Exploration—How Far Has Man Gone?
    Awake!—1992 | September 8

    • Is There Life on Mars?

      Space exploration will apparently continue to be driven by one intriguing question that has stirred man’s curiosity for centuries: Does intelligent life exist anywhere out there in the vast universe? For a long time astronomers and writers speculated as to whether there was life on the red planet Mars. What have recent spaceflights proved in that respect?

      The series of Mariner space probes in the 1960’s and 1970’s sent back pictures of Mars. Then, in 1976, the Viking 1 and 2 landers touched down on Mars and, incredibly, sent back information on the rock and soil. How was it obtained? By the use of an automated chemical and biological laboratory on the landing craft. Soil was picked up by a robotic arm, brought into the craft, and analyzed by the robotic laboratory. Was there any life there or any hope of it? What did the photos and analyses reveal?

      Space science writer Bruce Murray explains: “No bushes, no grasses, no footprints or other indications of life relieved the barrenness of this geologically fascinating terrain. . . . Despite the most careful searching with soil samples . . . , not a single organic molecule was detected . . . Mars’ soil is far more sterile than any environment on Earth. . . . Mars very probably has been lifeless for at least the last several billion years.”

      Murray drew a conclusion from all the evidence coming back from planetary exploration: “We are indeed alone in this Solar System. Earth, exhibiting the only watery surface, is the oasis of life. We do not have distant microbial cousins on Mars or anywhere else plausibly in this Solar System.”