Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Will NASA succeed in solving the mystery of Mars?' that was published in Newsband

Will NASA succeed in solving the mystery of Mars?

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Mars rover has managed to come up with a lot of vital information relating to planet Mars.

Not only the rover survived the harsh environment of the red planet but it also provided much sought after information on whether past environmental conditions were favourable for microbial life. It was necessary to know whether there was presence of liquid water at some point in the planet’s history. The rover returned abundant and invaluable information that unequivocally confirmed that Mars once had liquid water that was suitable for drinking.

The detection of well-rounded pebbles in the rock layers on a dry river bed and also the deposition of alternate layers of pebbles aligned at a particular angle was strongly suggestive of a paleoriver. The presence of clay minerals inside a drilled rock suggested that water was present for extended periods of time.

The potential evidence of paleoglaciers was gathered by cameras on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the European Space Agency’s Mars Express. Despite the presence of liquid water, the lack of atmospheric methane greatly reduces the possibility of any extant or extinct microbial life on Mars. Let us see whether India’s Mars Orbiter Mission manages to unearth some unknown facets of the red planet.

But the question is whether water is necessary for life at Mars or for that matter at any planet. There can be other forms of life as well which have evolved as per the environment of the planets. Why it is not possible that any life there could live on say radiation and needing no water at all? Why the conditions that made life on earth possible are necessary for the life to exist on Mars?

It is true that it is too early to confirm about the existence of life on the red planet. In this regard India’s Mars Orbiter Mission would certainly feed some crucial information to clearly understand this.

Many of them believed that life existed there in the past and many others concluded that people can live there comfortably. But still none of them were satisfactory conclusions. At present, NASA's curiosity is playing a crucial role in digging out the secrets that are hidden in the red planet. Some of the reports and data being collected are really mind blowing. Let us hope that India's Mars Orbiter Mission also plays a great role in finding the hidden treasures. Let the treasure hunt continue and we can hope that the mysteries will be revealed at the earliest.