Since 1964, NASA space missions have been sending back titillating images of Mars. Recent findings by a host of scientists have now confirmed the long-held hypothesis of many a hopeful star-gazer. Billions of years ago, life was possible on Mars.
Around 3.5 billion years ago, conditions were ripe for the evolution of living organisms. Flowing and ground water was present, and the conditions on Mars were nearly Earth-like. As time went on, those ideal conditions changed. The water that was flowing at a neutral pH changed to water that was acidic and salty. Life would have been difficult, if not impossible, to support under those conditions.
Now, scientists are hopeful that future searches can record carbon, the signature of life, and that we can finally know exactly when and where life evolved on Mars.
However, some scientists hypothesize that life still does exist on the red planet. Rhawn Joseph, author of such varied works as "Life on Earth, Came From Other Planets", "Sex on Mars", and "Evidence for Extraterrestrial Extremophiles and Plasmas in the Thermosphere", claims that a recent Mars exploration revealed proof of Martian life.
In a before and after photo, the Mars Rover documented a new "rock" that appeared 13 days after the original photo. This rock has been documented as an anomaly, an object that was inadvertently overturned by the rover. However, Joseph claims that the rock is a living thing that, while present in the before picture, grew to a visible size in 13 days.
So sure is Joseph of his case, that he is suing NASA.
Joseph claims that, by ignoring the object, NASA is hindering future research. His petition requires that NASA take additional photos of the object, including "100 high resolution close-up in-focus" photos from all angles with minimum glare and "24 microscopic in-focus" images of exterior, lip, walls and interior of the specimen. All photos, and future recognition if the specimen is biological, must be provided to Joseph.
Whether life existed in the past, or does in the present, Mars will continue to be a source of scientific inquiry for years to come.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
