A Significant Portion of Mars Could Be Friendly to Life, New Models Suggest
Now that we have slam-dunk evidence that Mars was once a wet and likely temperate place, astrobiologists are pondering the implications for ancient Martian life. One new study says the Red Planet has even more habitable space than Earth - albeit underground. Led by Charley Lineweaver at the Australian National University, researchers compared models of temperature and pressure conditions on Earth with those on Mars, extrapolating how much of Mars might be amenable to hosting Earth-like organisms. Life occupies just one percent of Earth, if you consider the entire planet's volume from the core to the stratosphere. But apparently three percent of Mars could be habitable, Lineweaver said. Most of this comfortable space is underground, where there would be sufficient pressure and warmth to hold liquid water and perhaps some toasty microbes. Related ArticlesOpportunity Finds Veins of Water-Deposited Minerals on Mars, Suggesting a Wet PastThe Most Capable Robot Geologist Ever Built Now...