NASA claims evidence of early life on Mars
Clinton calls find 'stunning'
August 7, 1996
Web posted at: 4:55 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Scientists cautioned Wednesday that they have not
found conclusive proof that life evolved on Mars, but believe findings
by a NASA research team are the first evidence of biological organisms
on a planet other than Earth.
"We are not here to establish beyond of shadow of a doubt that
life existed on Mars," said NASA administrator Daniel
Goldin, "but we have to open the door." (371K AIFF
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Speaking at a NASA press conference Wednesday, Goldin said the discovery
of possible bacterial microfossils on a meteorite believed to have originated
in Mars was "unbelievable ... and very, very exciting."
The significance of the findings, Goldin said, called for further research
to corroborate the result, including taking more samples from the planet
by robotic and, later, human exploration. (452K AIFF
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"I want everybody to know that we are not talking about 'little
green men,'" Goldin said Tuesday. "These are extremely small,
single-cell structures that somewhat resemble bacteria on Earth. There
is no evidence or suggestion that any higher life form ever existed on
Mars."
Members of the scientific team that compiled the data on the meteorite
-- picked up in 1984 from an Antarctic ice field where it had lain for
13,000 years -- explained the painstaking process used to make their determinations.
Comparisons of the meteorite's chemical structure with data on the Martian
surface collected by NASA's Viking explorer 20 years ago indicated that
it came from Mars, they said. Using electron microscopes and laser mass
spectrometry, the scientists compared the microscopic shapes and forms
they found on the meteorite with those of known microfossils on Earth.
Stanford
scientists demonstrate laser mass spectrometry
"There are alternative explanations for each of the lines of evidence,"
said Dr. David
McKay of the Johnson Space Center. "But when you look at them
all together, collectively, we conclude that this is evidence for early
life on Mars."
UCLA's Dr. William
Schopf, who did not participate in the analysis of the meteorite, called
the report a "fine piece of work," but said he regarded it as
"a preliminary report."
"It is exciting, interesting, pointing in the right direction,"
he said, "But additional work needs to be done."
President Clinton termed the discovery "stunning," and pledged
that the U.S. space program would "put its full intellectual power
and technological prowess behind the search for further evidence of life
on Mars."
The president reiterated his support for already planned unmanned trips
to Mars, set to launch at the end of this year. The first mission, Pathfinder,
is scheduled to land in July 1997. Clinton called on Vice President Al
Gore to convene a bi-partisan summit to discuss the future of the U.S space
program.
The scientists on NASA's team were clearly elated, although cautious,
with their discovery. If their evidence is borne out, the implications
are far-reaching.
"What it means is that life originated on a planet other than our
own early in its history," said Dr. Wes
Huntress of the Johnson Space Center. " ... And if it originated
in this solar system -- and on more than one planet in this solar system
-- why wouldn't it have originated in some other solar system?" (734K
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