Back in 1976, a double Nasa Viking Landers came to a complete stop on the red planet.
Their Experimental findings of life detection Still dress within the scientific community-styling constant discussion of the key issue: Is there life on Mars?
Fast forward to this day, new work resolves and rethinking the results of the Viking biology experiments.
Finding perhlorata
The most significant change from the 1970 experiments. There were high -level discovery Perhlorat on Mars. Perhlorat, plus abiotic oxidants, explains the results of the Viking and there is no request for a posting of life on Mars.
“Discovering the per class on Mars by the Phoenix mission provided the basis for explaining the results of the Viking Landers,” the newly issued paper. “Thermal breakdown of perclasses in the ovens [Viking] The instrument can explain the lack of detected organic substances. Hypochlorite accumulation in soil from cosmic rays Decomposition of perklarats can explain the reactivity that is seen when the nutrient solutions are added to the soil in experiments with viking biology. “
However, the work adds: “The non -biological explanation of Viking results does not exclude life on Mars.”
Re -review the results
The published Rad- “Experiments with Viking biology on Mars revised” is the author of renowned Mars researchers Christopher McKayRichard Quinn and Carol Stoker. All three authors are from the space scientific department of NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field California, near San Francisco.
“With the return of the Mars sample on the horizon and the appearance of future missions to Mars, perhaps even including instruments to discover life, it may be timely to revise the results of the Viking biology experiments,” the research team proposes. “Since Viking landed on Mars, many things have changed, and many things have not. What has not changed in the last 50 years has changed our understanding of life in the cold and dry environment.”
In communication with Christopher McKay, he said Space.com: “It is important to note that we do not say that the Viking results imply” there is no life on Mars. “
McKay said that their basic point was that the Viking results say that there are percloses on Mars and other oxidants, “and the experiments with biology Viking reacted.”
This means that the results of the Viking biology experiments cannot be used to justify access to the health and safety of astronauts or sample and/or quarantine astronaut policies to return to Earth that does not assume life on Mars.
New data
In their work for a scientific journal, Icarus, the research trio explains that there have been a lot of changes that have been derived from missions to Mars. “The most important new data, so far was a surprising discovery from Phoenix mission That the soil soil contain about 0.5% perchlati, “they observe.” This incredibly high concentration of perctration is still not appropriately explained, but implications on the results of the Vikings are deep. “
Space scientists in their work explain that the Perkloret model and the resulting conclusion that Viking did not reveal life in the surface soils of Mars, in the phase of any discussion of the return of the sample or the return of the astronaut from Mars.
“The external space contract forbids adverse changes in the environment of the country, which are the result of the introduction of alien substances.” Future experiments are needed to better understand Martian soil chemistry and the possibility of life to persevere there, “McKay and colleagues add.
Good goals
Summering their research work, they conclude that the Viking Perkloret model “does not prove that there is no Life on Marsnor does it imply that a constant search for evidence of life on Mars, a past or present is pointless. “
Indeed, as the research team suggests, “we strongly advocate the search for evidence of the existing life in future missions. Good goals are salt deposits and a polar ground ice.”
This new research was Published in Icarus.
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