OPINION:
A car-sized, nuclear-powered, robotic science lab has been exploring the planet Mars for the past five years. It is looking for signs that Mars once could have supported life. That journey itself started in 1976 with a previous Mars mission called Viking, which was inconclusive. Earlier this month NASA announced significant findings regarding this elusive search for life beyond Earth (“New Mars discoveries advance case for possible life,” Web, June 7).
The rover has confirmed the presence of organic carbon. If we imagine a bacteria built from Legos, then we can now say we have found a single intact Lego on another planet. Prior to this discovery we had only seen a sort of “Lego dust” that one might get by smashing a piece with a hammer. While not confirmation of past or present life, this discovery is a step toward determining the presence of life on Mars. If life is or was there, we now have a great deal more information about what to look for and where.
The other discovery NASA recently announced was seasonal changes in methane in the atmosphere. This is also significant because we do not expect to find methane production there that varies with the season; rather, we might have expected to see it released slowly from geological sources. One explanation for this is a seasonal release of rock and ice-bound methane, but another is some biological source.
We do not know what lies at the end of this road, nor how many steps remain before a satisfactory conclusion emerges. What we do know is that human ingenuity has no bounds, and that properly supported the human mind has exceptional capability for discovery. I remain confident that we will answer the question “Are we alone?” during my lifetime.
JEFF NOSANOV
Bethesda
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