We Discovered Life On Mars In The 1970s - Former NASA Scientist Says

Date: 15-10-2019 8:42 pm (4 years ago) | Author: Olusanya Akinrinola
- at 15-10-2019 08:42 PM (4 years ago)
(m)

We may have already discovered the essence of life on Mars 40 years ago, according to a former NASA scientist.

Gilbert V. Levin, who was principal investigator on a NASA experiment that sent Viking landers to Mars in 1976, published an article in the Scientific American journal last Thursday, arguing the experiment's positive results were proof of life on the red planet.
The experiment, called Labeled Release (LR), was designed to test Martian soil for organic matter. "It seemed we had answered that ultimate question," Levin wrote in the article.
In the experiment, the Viking probes placed nutrients in Mars soil samples -- if life were present, it would consume the food and leave gaseous traces of its metabolism, which radioactive monitors would then detect.
To make sure it was a biological reaction, the test was repeated after cooking the soil, which would prove lethal to known life. If there was a measurable reaction in the first and not the second sample, that would suggest biological forces at work -- and that's exactly what happened, according to Levin.
However, other experiments failed to find any organic material and NASA couldn't duplicate the results in their laboratory -- so they dismissed the positive result as false positives, some unknown chemical reaction rather than proof of extraterrestrial life.
"NASA concluded that the LR had found a substance mimicking life, but not life," said Levin in his article. "Inexplicably, over the 43 years since Viking, none of NASA's subsequent Mars landers has carried a life detection instrument to follow up on these exciting results."
But now, decades later, there are more and more promising signs. NASA's Curiosity rover found organic matter on Mars in 2018, and just last week it found sediments that suggest there were once ancient salty lakes on the surface of Mars.
"What is the evidence against the possibility of life on Mars?" Levin wrote.
Quote
"The astonishing fact is that there is none."


Levin, a maverick researcher who has often run afoul of the NASA bureaucracy, has insisted for decades that "it is more likely than not that we detected life." Now, he and LR co-experimenter Patricia Ann Straat are calling for further investigation.
"NASA has already announced that its 2020 Mars lander will not contain a life-detection test," Levin wrote in the Scientific American article. "In keeping with well-established scientific protocol, I believe an effort should be made to put life detection experiments on the next Mars mission possible."
He proposed that the LR experiment be repeated on Mars, with certain amendments, and then have its data studied by a panel of experts.
"Such an objective jury might conclude, as I did, that the Viking LR did find life," he wrote.
NASA's Mars 2020 rover is set to launch next summer and land in February 2021. It carries an instrument that will help it search for past signs of life on Mars -- the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals instrument, dubbed SHERLOC.
The rover will look for past habitable environments, find biosignatures in rock and will test those samples back on Earth.
But if scientists fail to find evidence of life, that won't end the hope for human exploration. Mars 2020 will also test oxygen production on the planet and monitor Martian weather to evaluate how potential human colonies could fare on Mars.


Posted: at 15-10-2019 08:42 PM (4 years ago) | Hero
- sun2sun at 16-10-2019 05:37 AM (4 years ago)
(m)
Interesting!
Posted: at 16-10-2019 05:37 AM (4 years ago) | Upcoming
Reply

fire TRENDING GISTS fire

TODAY'S TOP
  1. DHQ Finally Releases Photos And Names Of Soldiers Killed In Delta Attack

  2. Teenage Boy Nabbed For Raping 11-Year-Old Schoolmate In Rivers

  3. She Paid For My 1st Song, Believed in me When Others Mocked me- Kizz Daniel Opens Up About Wife

  4. VIDEO: Nigerian Man Drags Wife to Court Over Genotype of Their Son Who is SS

  5. The House Of Rep Member Is In Opposition Party - Soludo States Why He Didn't Construct Road

  6. Nigerian Man Breaks Down in Tears After Using His Mother’s N8m to Play Sporty Bet, Loses All

  7. VIDEO: Peter Obi Spotted At Central Mosque To Break Fast For Ramadan

  8. BBNaija's Angel Slams Trolls Following Speculation Of A Breakup With Soma

  9. VIDEO: My Child Trying To Mess Up My Career - Mimi Orjiekwe Embarrassed As Daughter Exposes Her

  10. "I’ve Forgiven Davido For ‘Disrespecting’ Me" - Samklef

  11. 'This Entertainment Industry Is So Dark Cos People In It Are So Envious, Evil' - Actress Uche

  12. I’ll Not Leave My Husband For Having Child Outside Our Marriage Says Blessing CEO

  13. Singer Spyro Sends Strong Message To Men About Beautiful Women

  14. "I’m Afrobeats Leader Worldwide" – Davido Brags

  15. Fear, Tension As Bandits Kidnap 87, Loot Shops In Fresh Kaduna Attack

  16. Man Who Renounced Nigerian Citizenship Says He Has No Regrets

  17. Businessman Tunde Ayeni Bars Ex-Mistress Ms Alagwu And Daughter From Using His Name

  18. 6 Suspected Yahoo Boy Jailed In Ilorin

  19. "Why Actresses Might Command Higher Salaries In Nollywood" - Veteran Actor, Norbert Young

  20. Tragedy As 2 Children Burnt To Death Following Fire Incident In Bauchi Residence


THIS WEEK
  1. Nollywood Actor, Amaechi Muonagor Seeks Help From His Sick Bed

  2. Royal Joy As Ooni Of Ife Welcomes Twins With His Third Wife, Olori Tobi Philips-Ogunwusi

  3. President Tinubu Appoints First Female Director-General Of NEMA, Zubaida Umar

  4. Motorist Calls Out Actor Somadina Adinma For Being A Celebrity And Trekking In Public

  5. Following Recent Divorce Saga, Nigerians Dig Up Abusive Past Of Modupe Alakija

  6. Customs Intercepts Ammunition Worth Over Half A Billion Naira Concealed In Sacks Of Garri

  7. See Full Lists Of Venues Of Lagos 25% Discounted Food Markets ‘Ounje Eko’

  8. Can of Worms! Obasanjo’s Biological Father An Igbo Man From Onitsha – Rtd Col Majekodunmi

  9. Drink Your Tears, Cry Blood, I’m Married” – Queen Throws Shades As She Flaunts Her Ring (VID)

  10. "How Tinubu And His Colleagues Failed Nigeria In 1999" - Pa Ayo Adebanjo


TOP MEMBERS: