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Do they destroy it too? – Robot landers that were sent to Mars to search for life may actually have destroyed it.

In New Scientist, David Shiga reports that NASA’s Phoenix lander found chemicals called perchlorates in the Martian soil. When heated, these release oxygen and thus cause nearby material to burn (which is why they are used in rocket fuel). The heat from the Mars lander may have heated the perchlorates in the soil and burned away any life forms there before the lander could detect them.
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?and maybe live there ourselves someday – On Mars, NASA has found both methane gas and rocks that contain carbonates. Why is this important? The rocks show that the water on Mars is not too acidic to support life?otherwise, carbonates couldn’t form. And the methane could be a byproduct of plant decay, meaning that life is already there.
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NASA’s Phoenix Lander spacecraft has collected a soil sample and had studied it in a chemistry lab on board the lander. NASA says they have discovered water in the soil.

This answers a major question about Mars: is the ice that is on the planet made of carbon dioxide or water? BBC News quotes NASA?s William Boynton as saying that this is the first time that Mars water has been “touched and tasted.” This finding paves the way for future colonization of the Red Planet.
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We now know that water is on the moon, but it was once on Mars?so there could once have been life there, even if it isn?t there today. New NASA data reveals that there was once plenty of water on Mars, in huge lakes and flowing rivers, and they think these conditions lasted for many years.

BBC News quotes Jack Mustard as saying, “This is really exciting because we’re finding dozens of sites where future missions can land to understand if Mars was ever habitable and if so, to look for signs of past life.” There may only be bacterial life there now, but WE could be there in the future. Mustard says, “What does this mean for habitability? It’s very strong. It wasn’t this hot, boiling cauldron. It was a benign, water-rich environment for a long period of time.”
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