• Question: did life used to live on mars?

    Asked by pigsflyoverthemoon to Davie, Gemma, James P, James V, Nuala on 29 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: James Pope

      James Pope answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Hi pigsflyoverthemoon,

      There are lots of probes either on Mars or heading to Mars looking to answer this very question, but at the moment we do not know either way for sure. If there was life on Mars it will have been in the form of bacteria and other simple life, not in the form of complex life like plants and animals.

    • Photo: James Verdon

      James Verdon answered on 1 Jul 2012:

      Hi pigsfly,

      We don’t yet know to be sure. So far we haven’t found evidence that it did. However, there does appear to be evidence that Mars was once warmer and had liquid water on the surface. If it did, there would be a chance that life could have developed. However, until we find undisputed evidence that life existed (maybe in the form of fossils for example) then we can’t know for sure. Like James P says, though, it would only be simple, single celled bacteria-like organisms, not any complex life.

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