Boffins have made a discovery that may finally answer the age old question of whether there is alien life on Mars. A region on the Red Planet covering some 1,800 miles has the perfect subterranean conditions to harbour living organisms.
The Acidalia Planitia on the northern hemisphere has just the right levels of heat, water and energy in its soil to support bacteria. However, there is a slight catch, any successful missions to Mars will have to drill miles beneath the surface to confirm whether we have company in the universe.
To carry out such a feat, countless missions with heavy equipment would have to be carried out by researchers and it will also be many moons before humans have the technology to fulfil such complex space exploration. It follows NASA discovering a strange spiderweb-like structure on the surface of Mars.
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Boffins at the University of Barcelona, led by Andrea Butturini, wrote of the discovery: “It is a promising target area for future missions in the search for extant life in Mars’ subsurface”.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The University of Barcelona researchers used data on the Red Planet gathered by orbiters to identify regions where abundant thorium could provide life-sustaining energy.
They then synchronised this data with information on where subsurface ice has been discovered by previous missions. The analysis revealed that the ‘most robust target area is the southern Acidalia Planitia at mid latitude,’ located near a region of clay and carbonate deposits with signs of groundwater activity.
(Image: NASA, ESA, Maryland Astrobiology Consortium)
Temperatures at this underground location is between 32 to 50°F. This means life-giving water may be mixed with the Martian soil at this location.
The study is yet to be peer-reviewed but it already turning heads in the scientific community. The eye-opening research paper reads: “The subsurface of the southern of Acidalia Planitia is a putative target region for hosting cold-adapted Methanosarcinaceae-like and/or Methanomicrobiaceae-like methanogens.
“In this region, the radiogenic heat-producing elements are at the highest abundance and subsurface water is likely.”
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