Why search for life on Mars underground?
The most important ingredient for life is liquid water. Where there is no liquid water, there is no life. Liquid water does not occur on the martian surface because it is too cold and the pressure is too low. Scientists believe that liquid water occurs on Mars below the surface. NASA is interested in drilling on Mars to search for life. Surface life on Earth obtains metabolic needs from sunlight. Photosynthesis produces organic compounds from inorganic starting products using sunlight. Life in the Martian subsurface would need to obtain its metabolic needs from chemical energy since there is no sunlight. There are places on Earth where bacteria live underground and use chemical energy to obtain food. Our team believes that the Rio Tinto may be one of these places.
