Humanity’s relentless quest for something it has been seeking for so long might have inadvertently been killed off by our own clumsy endeavors.
Could Humans Have Accidentally Ended the Remaining Life on Mars? (Image: Getty).
For decades, humans have been making significant strides in space exploration, driven by a desire to unravel the mysteries of the universe and, perhaps, to discover extraterrestrial life if it exists.
However, we don’t always foresee the consequences of our actions. In fact, humans may have unwittingly ended the fragile life that may still exist on Mars.
This somewhat incredible hypothesis has been raised by Dirk Schulze-Makuch, an astrobiologist, in an article published in the journal Big Think.
According to Schulze-Makuch, experiments aimed at detecting signs of microbial life on Mars conducted in the 1970s may have had a counterproductive effect, leading to the demise of what little life might have been left.
In 1976, NASA’s Viking landers touched down on Mars and conducted a series of experiments designed to check for biological signs in the Martian soil.
To date, these remain the only dedicated biological experiments ever conducted on Mars.
However, recent discoveries by scientists indicate that one of the experiments, specifically the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS), produced perchlorate compounds – known for their sterilizing properties.
The arid surface of Mars captured by the Curiosity rover (Image: NASA).
Remarkably, previous analyses from the experiments had not detected any unusual contaminants.
In other words, humans may have inadvertently destroyed the very organic compounds – the building blocks of life – that we have been searching for on Mars, without even realizing it.
This assertion gains more ground when we consider the stark differences between Earth and Mars. Clearly, what holds true on Earth doesn’t necessarily apply to Mars.
For instance, it was once believed that life on Mars, like on Earth, would flourish with the presence of water. However, recent studies have shown that life can adapt to thrive in extremely arid conditions.
Now, imagine what would happen if you poured water onto microbes (if they exist) that have adapted to the arid conditions on Mars? You’d likely be providing too much water, effectively drowning them.
“In simple terms, that would be like making them (the microbes) drown,” Schulze-Makuch explains.
While this argument still holds several contradictions and hasn’t reached a definitive conclusion, it does emphasize the need for caution and thorough consideration of Mars’ ecosystem before undertaking future experiments.
Because who knows, something humanity has been searching for so long might have inadvertently been killed off by our own less-than-delicate efforts.