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Mars Soil Appears To Be Able To Sustain Life

Posted by timothy on from the expensive-way-to-replenish-topsoil dept.

beckerist writes "Scientists working on the Phoenix Mars Lander mission, which has already found ice on the planet, said preliminary analysis by the lander's instruments on a sample of soil scooped up by the spacecraft's robotic arm had shown it to be much more alkaline than expected. Sam Kounaves, the lead investigator for the wet chemistry laboratory on Phoenix, told journalists: 'It is the type of soil you would probably have in your back yard, you know, alkaline. You might be able to grow asparagus in it really well. ... It is very exciting for us.'"

2 of 337 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Life? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    as opposed to coming from Earth as contamination during any of our Mars missions? Great pains are taken to make sure any and all things landing on Mars from Earth are completely serile. The concern you mention was a pretty big one - when scientists first figured out how to solve it decades ago.
  2. Re:Growing Asparagus on Mars... by _KiTA_ · · Score: 5, Informative

    But it would be tasty, produce oxigen and it provided an aphrodisiac(*). What more do you want?

    (*) I know that's bollocks..

    Perhaps enough Gravity to hold down said newfound oxygen?

    http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=1759493
    http://www.philforhumanity.com/Terraforming_Mars.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars

    The problem right now is not the temperature or the sun, we have some forms of life that could handle Mars right now, as far as I know (Asparagus, for example, as well as plenty of microbes). The problem is the plant just isn't heavy enough to keep gas close to it.