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Question
What evidence is there that life exists on other planets?
There is no direct evidence that life exists on other planets -- but the only place we have looked seriously for life is on the surface of Mars, which was visited by two Viking landers in 1976. The Viking experiments did not detect any life in the surface soil, but they did not sample the subsurface, which is a much more likely place to find life on Mars. The famous Mars rock (ALH84001) might contain fossils of martian microbial life, but most scientists do not find this claim persuasive. Otherwise, we have just begun the astrobiological exploration of the planets. The first priority is to look for potentially habitable environments. Later we hope to carry out searches for life itself. This search is one of the main goals of the science of astrobiology.
May 8, 2003
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