Did Viking 1 find life on Mars 50 years ago? Here’s why the debate continues
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“Viking more likely than not found autotrophic microbial life on Mars, roughly 1,000 cells per gram.”
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In looking back and commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Viking missions to Mars, one is struck by the bold and audacious undertaking.
Twin spacecraft missions — each consisting of a lander and an orbiter — made their way to Mars and into the history books. The Viking 1 lander planted its legs on the terrain of Chryse Planitia 50 years ago today, on July 20, 1976, while its Viking 2 counterpart touched down at Utopia Planitia on Sept. 3 of that year.
Among their duties, the dual landers scooped up the first soil samples of Mars and deposited those precious collectibles into onboard, specialized equipment. Viking scientists had designed that gear to help answer an intriguing question: Is there life on Mars?
One of Viking’s instruments was a GCMS, a combination of a gas chromatograph (GC) and a mass spectrometer (MS). A positive GCMS detection could confirm the possibility that organics needed for the origin of life as we know it were present.
After interpreting all the data and information gleaned from ingested Martian soil, most scientists at the time concluded that Viking relayed a “no life on Mars” result. You may like
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But is it possible that the two robots actually radioed back a very clear comeback: “Can you repeat the question?”
Different techniques
Ben Clark was a member of the Viking science team, and the instrument he designed made the first-ever measurements of the chemical composition of Mars soil. He is now a senior research scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
“There were three life-detection experiments, each using different techniques to probe whether they could stimulate biological activity in the soil by adding various selected nutrients,” Clark told Space.com. “Two were generally negative in their findings, but a third experiment had an expected strong response when it added nutrient.”
Indeed, astrobiologist/inventor Gilbert Levin remained convinced that his Viking microbial detection instrument, called the Labeled Release experiment, did find living microorganisms in the soil of Mars. He held tight to that view until he passed in July 2021 at the age of 97.
Skeptical scientists
Clark recalled that many members of the scientific community were skeptical when geochemists pointed out that certain minerals can cause a similar response.
Source: Did Viking 1 find life on Mars 50 years ago? Here’s why the debate continues | Space
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