• Question: Is there life on mars and if not can there be?

    Asked by anon-44019 to Claire, Mark, Zach on 20 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Claire Vinten

      Claire Vinten answered on 20 Mar 2014:

      Hi 🙂

      No, at the moment there is not life on Mars. We don’t think there ever will be life on Mars, as Mars doesn’t seem to have water – which is vital for life.

      Scientists do wonder if there might have been water on Mars in the past. We think this because water leaves marks where it has been (riverbeds, canyons etc) and scientists think they can see these marks on the surface of Mars. It may be the case that Mars had water millions of years ago, but it has now dried up. If Mars did once have water, it might also have had life at the same time.

      There are other places in the solar system that we are looking for life. For example, Europa – one of the moons of Jupiter – is completely covered in water so we think this might be a good place for life to have evolved.

      Hope that answers your question!

    • Photo: Zach Dixon

      Zach Dixon answered on 20 Mar 2014:

      Hopefully one day it could support life! It is our best hope for another planet to live on!

      But that will be many, many years in the future 🙂

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