![\"If](\"https:\/\/wp-assets.futurism.com\/2020\/02\/nasa-mars-life-hiding-underground-300x158.jpg\")
<\/div>Mars Life<\/h2>
This summer, NASA plans to launch the most sophisticated Mars rover in history — a 2,260-pound behemoth<\/a> which, if all goes well, will eventually send samples from the Red Planet back to Earth.<\/p> A key hope is that the rover will gather new evidence of life, alive or extinct, on our planetary neighbor. But Space.com<\/em> attended a recent conference<\/a> about potential astrobiology on Mars, and found that almost all attendees think that if there’s life there, it’s probably deep underground.<\/p> At the Mars Extant Life conference, according to Space.com<\/em>, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory research scientist Vlada Stamenkovi? backed up the idea that if Martian life exists, it’s probably beneath the surface<\/a>.<\/p> “The surface of Mars is a very oxidizing, radiation-heavy environment where liquid water is not really stable for an extended amount of time,” Stamenkovi? said. “It’s the worst place to look for life-sites on Mars.”<\/p> Some scientists advocate building nimble robots that could explore Martian cave systems, but that’d be an enormously complicated technical project.<\/p> More realistic, Stamenkovi? says, would be for the agency to land equipment that can sense groundwater and chemicals associated with possible life — from the safety of the surface.<\/p> Or, of course, to plumb the mysteries of subsurface Mars, we may have to wait until NASA’s long-awaited plans to send humans to the Red Planet, currently slated<\/a> for the mid-2030s.<\/p> READ MORE:<\/strong> Scientists eye the Martian underground in search for alien life<\/a> [Space.com<\/em>]<\/p> More on Mars: <\/strong>University Deletes Press Release Claiming Evidence of Bugs on Mars<\/em><\/a><\/p> The post Here’s Why NASA Suspects Mars Life Could Be Hiding Underground<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> More: Mars Life This summer, NASA plans to launch the most sophisticated Mars rover in history \u2014 a 2,260-pound behemoth which, if all goes well, will eventually send samples from the Red Planet back to Earth. A key hope is that the rover will gather new evidence of life, alive or extinct, on our planetary neighbor Continue reading Surface Tension<\/h2>
Cave Canem<\/h2>
Here’s Why NASA Suspects Mars Life Could Be Hiding Underground<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"