Whoops! I Hate When That Happens...

It wasn't intentional... but if scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch is correct, two NASA probes sent to explore the possibility of life on Mars 30 years ago may have killed the very life they were trying to find.

That's because the two Viking space probes of 1976-77 were looking for signs of Earth-like life, in which salt water is the internal liquid inside living cells. Both Viking probes conducted tests based around that conclusion.

However, Schulze-Makuch says recent findings -- including December's announcement by NASA that water may still flow on the Red Planet -- suggests any possible alien life on Mars may actually contain a mix of water and hydrogen peroxide. In a research paper published Sunday, the scientist says such a combination of internal ingredients would allow possible life to survive the cold, dry conditions on Mars.

The Associated Press reports the Viking experiments weren't set up to detect signs of alien hydrogen peroxide-based life. In fact, the nature of those experiments would have probably killed any traces of that life in the area.

One Viking experiment poured water on the Martian soil; another heated the soil. Both tests would have drowned and fried, respectively, any hydrogen-peroxide-based microbes on the surface.

"The problem was that they didn't have any clue about the environment on Mars at that time," Schulze-Makuch said. "This kind of adaptation makes sense from a biochemical viewpoint."

Schulze-Makuch adds he can't prove such Martian microbes actually exist... but given the evidence seen so far, both on Mars and in hostile conditions on Earth, "it makes sense."

Assuming Schulze-Makuch's theory is correct, NASA may still have a chance to put things right... if the space agency can move fast enough. NASA's Phoenix mission to Mars is set to launch this summer, and scientists are looking at ways to adapt the probe's instruments to detect the kind of life Schulze-Makuch theorizes may exist on Mars.

Schulze-Makuch's research is similar to work being performed by the so-called "weird life" committee at the National Research Council. The group says scientists need to think outside the Earth-centric box when looking for life on other planets.

"You only find what you're looking for," said Penn State University geosciences professor and NRC reviewer Katherine Freeman.

FMI: www.nationalacademies.org/nrc/