The 2023 J.U.C. Media, Research & Writing Awards #JUCAwards2023

Theme: Is life on another planet such as Mars possible?
Category: Research | Submission Code #R3
Word Count: 642 | Guideline/Section#10: Not Evaluated.
Researched by MATCHA VIJAY KUMAR
Dr. Mgr Educational and Research Institute, Chennai, India

#JUCMRWA2023 The planet Mars is the 4th planet in our solar system and it is called Earth’s Twin. As we are discovering more in space, astronauts and all other space scientists are interested in the research on “Life on Mars is possible”?

Life on Mars is purely a matter of interest. Every people will have Interested in discovering other planets. Since Mars is booming. Up to date, no proof or scientific evidence is not available to prove that life is possible on Mars. But our scientists are working towards it.

Some evidence from early days give that Mars has water and is habitable for microorganisms, but life for humans is still a Question mark.
Some research has proven that some biosignatures are there on Mars, such as a soil type, some solids, surfaces, bio things, etc.
Mars is about 3.5 billion years old and it has a cold climate and lacks plate movements.

The primary objective of NASA and ESA now is to find some Habitual evidence on Mars and get evidence and proof for that. So Many space missions and telescoping investigations are regarding that.

The discovery of sedimentary rocks, boron, water, ionizing radiation, martian soil, etc. Tells us that life on Mars may be possible.

In 2018 NASA recorded methane variations on Mars. The European Mars mission detected atmospheric variation on Mars. NASA’s rover successfully landed on Mars. Drill samples can be Tested in 2030. The research goes on and will find the result shortly.

There is a slim chance that microbial life exists on Mars today, perhaps under the planet’s ice caps or in subsurface lakes detected by spacecraft like the European Space Agency’s Mars Express. Locations like these could protect life from the harsh conditions on the planet’s surface.

Because the kind of life that we think could exist on Mars today is microbial, it wouldn’t be spotted by the cameras of an orbiting spacecraft. Instead, there are ways we could detect it indirectly through chemical signatures linked to life called biosignatures.

One such biosignature is methane, which can be created by both biological and geological processes. Curiosity has detected methane near its landing site in Gale Crater.

We, humans, have long been fascinated by this question. In 1895, astronomer Percival Lowel mistakenly documented what he believed was a series of artificial canals crisscrossing the planet. The idea that our neighboring planet might be home to intelligent beings captured imaginations around the world and spurred numerous visions of Mars, some peaceful and others malevolent.

Fast-forward to the present day when humans have sent more spacecraft to study Mars than any other planet beyond Earth. To this day there is no evidence of life on Mars, but the search hasn’t stopped. Just as life itself evolves, so too have the ways we look for it. Today, the red planet is still a prime target in the search for life.

Mars wasn’t always this inhospitable to life. We think Mars once had a molten core that generated a magnetic field. This, in turn, protected the surface from radiation and supported a thicker atmosphere that kept the planet warm.

There is also strong evidence that between 3 and 4 billion years ago, Mars had water on its surface. We can see valleys carved by rivers, pebbles that formed in streams, and piles of sediment that could have come from basins and deltas. Under these conditions, life could have been possible.

About 3 billion years ago, Mars lost its protective magnetic field. Solar radiation stripped off most of the planet’s atmosphere, the liquid water disappeared, and Mars turned into the cold, dry desert we see today. This isn’t conclusive; the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Express Orbiter has not found signs of the chemical in Mars’ atmosphere.

The 2023 J.U.C. Media, Research & Writing Awards Submission