A Scientific and Christian View of Possible Life in Outer Space

Part 1 Our Solar System (For Information Beyond Our Solar System See Link for Part 2)

Background of Personal Perspective on Extraterrestrial Life

As I have personally been interested in science especially astronomy and space exploration since I learned how to read at about age 5 and long before I became a true or born again Christian I can say with some basis that I have knowledge of the scientific side of issue of extraterrestrial life (intelligent or otherwise). My interest in astronomy and space exploration especially the human variety was solidified when I eye-witnessed the Apollo 11 lunar landings in July 1969 at a rented cottage in central Ontario when I was 9 years old. The laser reflector left by those astronauts on the moon to determine the Earth-Moon distance precisely probably still works and could probably be used to disprove people who believe the Apollo landings were a hoax if NASA wanted to use this means. I continue to be intensely interested in this subject and am a member of The Planetary Society - the largest grassroots pro-space exploration private organization in the world. I am also quite pleased with the recent and ongoing discoveries of unmanned space probes especially at Mars and to a lesser extent with the current unmanned Cassini space probe at Saturn and its moons especially with the Huygens lander to its large moon Titan that has a substantial atmoshpere with much methane and other hydrocarbons but bemoan the continued lack of appreciable manned space exploration. Although I have not taken formal courses in Biology or Life Sciences I have taken courses in Chemistry including one in Organic Chemistry and have read many articles on Biology in its different areas both from an evolutionary perspective and more recently also from a creationist perspective so I have some understanding of the biology area to comment on the issue of possible extraterrestrial life. I have also been a "born again" Christian for more than 20 years and have read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation at least 15 times as well as done much Bible study including the terms heaven or heavens and heard many Bible messages and discussed Bible or Christian things many times with other people Christian or otherwise including the idea of extraterrestrial life. I write this article as from someone who has a deep interest, enthusiasm and support for both astronomy, space exploration, and desire to find at least bacteria or equivalent life in the present universe and as a Bible believing Christian that sees these two perspectives as complementary and not incompatible. I also am writing this article feeling that this is a topic of widespread interest to people of many backgrounds although from many different perspectives.

Early Ideas and Following Limitations of Mars as a Possible Abode of Extraterrestrial Life

The planet Mars has long been conceived or looked upon as one of the best places in our solar system outside of Earth for extraterrestrial life. This would probably include some but not all Christians with this viewpoint. Of course at first until probably the first close up pictures by the fly by unmanned Mariner spacecraft past Mars in the 1960s Mars was even thought to possibly shelter extraterrestrial intelligent life human-like or otherwise. This was popularized by the astronomer Percival Lowell who conducted an extensive study of features on Mars he imagined to be artificially produced canals by a desperate civilization on the dry climate of Mars. This idea began with another Italian astronomer named Giovanni Schiaparelli who first noticed these features and called them "canali" which is the Italian word for channels but was often interpreted in English as canals. Another prominent person who popularized intelligent life on Mars was H. G. Wells with his science fiction book The War of the Worlds that was famously broadcast on radio in the United States saying that Martians had landed in United States and were trying to take some power and caused quite a panic by some people who thought this was real. I think this was in 1938. Other people have also popularized the idea of intelligent life on Mars but the pictures of the Mars flyby that showed many craters on Mars and a surface apparently void of noticeable vegetation, liquid water or signs of civilization dealt a severe blow to the hopes of finding extraterrestrial life on Mars. This disappointment was further extended when the first landers on Mars the twin NASA Viking probes saw no trees or vegetation (or humanoid or animal life) on Mars in their immediate vicinity. According to a recent brief article in the magazine Science News (November 18, 2006), there is a report that an experiment was done on earth on three arid or very dry locations in Chile, Egypt and Antarctica and two areas with iron-rich soil in Spain and Hawaii to revisit the Viking lander results bearing on the question of possible Martian microscopic life. In these recent experiments on earth the same experimental equipment or techniques that were used on Viking landers were used called thermal volatization - gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (TV-GC-MS) as well as another technique for detecting microscopic life. In these tests in the soil from the very dry locations in Chile, Antarctica and Egypt this other technique indicated there were some biological entitites in the soil but the TV-GC-MS technique used on Mars showed results giving no indication of biological entities. Also in the soils from Spain and Hawaii with abundant iron the results show that in the TV-GC-MS procedure some of the carbon of the biological materials was turned into carbon dioxide in the examinations. One of the researchers said these findings of carbon being turned into carbon-dioxide in iron rich soils (as the soil on Mars) and the lack of detection of biological entities in the arid soil by the TV-GC-MS could explain why the Viking landers discovered carbon dioxide but not organic material. This means there is a more realistic possibility the Viking landers encountered microscopic life on Mars in the 1970s. Unfortunately the present Spirit and Opportunity rovers only have capability to detect water and perhaps other hydrogen bearing compounds and not carbon based or organic compounds but there are plans to send a further lander or rover to Mars with organic compounds detection ability soon.

Indication of Possible Organic Chemicals on Mars from Comparison of Mars Meteorite and Earth Arctic Conditions in December 2007

Although it is somewhat controversial there is a meteorite from Mars named Allan Hills 84001 named I believe from the area of Antarctica where it was found that contains some possible indications of Martian microbial life. This past life is possibly indicated by such things as structures that look like fossilized miniature bacteria. Although their small size even for bacteria was previously used to dismiss it as not possibly biological I believe some examples of such small bacteria or microbial life have more recently been found on Earth. One of the other main indications of possible former life on Mars in this meteorite is deposits of the iron containing mineral magnetite. However this can be produced by both organic and inorganic processes. Anyway in late 2007 this Mars meteorite was used for a further experiment here on Earth. In this experiment this meteorite was studied and compared with some of the ground of the arctic Norwegian island of Svalsberg north of Norway itself by Norwegian scientists. These scientists examined rocks produced by volcanic processes in the frigid climate a long time ago. These scientists found that organic material was present in carbonate spheres in both the Earth rocks and the Martian meteorite. This organic material is strongly related to the mineral magnetite which is composed mostly of iron oxide. This participation of magnetite is the essential part of realizing the formation process of these organic chemicals. When these rocks cooled the magnetite instigated the formation of the organic chemicals from liquids containing abundant water and carbon dioxide which are both known to occur also on Mars and at least previously would likely have occured in relation to liquid water or perhaps other liquids. Although the organic chemicals in the Mars meteorite are not thought to have been produced by living forms at this time the probable production of organic chemicals in a spontaneous way with the assistance of the mineral magnetite on an otherwise cold and seemingly inhospitable environment such as Mars could make the existence of microbial life on Mars in the past or even present more likely as these organic chemcials could be used as nutrients for any possible Martian microbial life forms. This could also make the presence of organic matter more likely on other worlds in our solar system or extrasolar planets more likely if they have water, carbon dioxide and a catalyst such as magnetite and some liquid to transport the water and carbon dioxide. There are more unmanned landing probes scheduled to reach Mars in 2009 or in the next decade by United States, Europe and perhaps others capable of detecting organic chemicals and perhaps life such as bacteria so the discovery of organic chemicals in this meteorite from Mars in a way similiar to rocks in harsh and Mars-like areas or Earth increases the promise that at least organic chemicals will be found soon on Mars. This could be an indication of bacteria life on Mars but any organic chemicals on Mars could be only limited to inorganic means of production and use if there is no more complex involvement in these processes than the magnetite catalyzed production of organic chemicals.

December 2009 Positive Reconsideration of Allan Hills and Other Meteorites From Mars as Indicating Past Microbial Life There

In a radio broadcast I heard last night that including an interview with a scientific specialist who has experience with the Allan Hills meteorite and was familiar with some of the other meteorites from Mars, it was affirmed that there is renewed confidence that the magnetite and wormlike structures on the Allan Hills meteorite and some positive indications on some other Mars meteorites indicate past biological activity on Mars of a microbial nature. It was stated that this magnetite could be produced inside the bacteria or similiar creatures and could be used to orient the microbes with a magnetic field. However this would still be somewhat difficult for microbes on Mars as there is not a global magnetic field on Mars as on Earth although there are local magnetic fields in some places on Mars but these would not be as useful for orienting these microbes on Mars with the different climatic zones as the magnetic field on Earth would be for microbes here.

Mars from Hubble Telescope

Accumulating Evidence for Possible Past or Present Life on Mars Through Discovery of Past and Present Water on Mars

Although large scale life at least at present of animals, planets or of course humanoid or other intelligent life has pretty well been ruled out on Mars, there is accumulating evidence that Mars can now still support limited bacteria life and may do so and that it could once support much more extensive life and possibly did. The first discovery in favour of the idea that Mars could once support much more extensive life was the early discovery of the Valles Marineris or Mariner Valley which is similiar to but far larger than Earth's Grand Canyon which of course is known to be carved by water. This and many other considerations argue strongly in favour of this Valles Marineris and similiar features that look like they were carved by water erosion actually having been carved by water. Much more recently there has been discovered within a metre of the surface over I think about 2/3 of the surface of Mars especially on either side of its equator a vast sheet of water ice which if melted could form quite a sizable ocean of liquid water and accompanying water system. This could be left over from when Mars was previously a wet planet in its early history including probably an ocean in much of its lower northern hemisphere that also has what looks like several former water channels running into it. In March 2007 it was announced that the European Mars Express has discovered that the south Martian polar cap has about the same surface area as the U.S. state of Texas and that is 1 or 2 miles deep is composed mostly of water ice rather than having a significant part that was dust or other similiar material. It is calculated that is this water ice in the south Martian polar cap were all to melt the resultant liquid water would cover all of Mars to a depth of about 11 metres or 36 feet. Liquid water of course is one of the main components to support life as we know it although theoretically there are some other chemicals that could take its place. Another thing that in some ways is even more interesting is the also recent discovery of what looks like small water gullies on the sides of some crater walls and other places. These are interesting because these gullies usually go over other features such as smaller craters or ridges meaning the water gullies must be more recent. They also in many cases have no apparently more recent features interfering with or imposed on them meaning they are either quite recent or perhaps still active. This would be very interesting for unmanned or manned future Martian explorers to investigate. Ongoing research in support of water is from the NASA Spirit and Opportunity rovers that are continuing to discover evidence of past liquid water on the surface of Mars. This includes the discovery of a rock ledge which seems to give evidence of past water erosion or formation activity as if it was on the shoreline of a former shallow sea. Sulphate components that are usually just formed in liquid water and that were probably dissolved in a liquid water sea at the Opportunity rover site is strong evidence of previous liquid water on Mars especially at that location. There were also many nodules likely formed in water called blueberries because of their blue tinge on some of the rocks there that could also be evidence of past liquid water. The Opportunity rover also found evidence of the mineral Jarosite (K2Fe6(SO4)4(OH)12 that can only form in liquid water and Haematite (Fe2O3) that is usually found mostly in liquid water which is further substantial evidence of former liquid water on Mars. The Spirit rover has also found substantial evidence of Haematite and recently evidence of the mineral Goethite (FeO(OH)) that can only be formed in the presence of liquid water.

June 2010 Consistant Elevation Level of Past Deltas on Mars Indicating Ancient Ocean Level of Liquid Water

On space.com and the Telegraph newspaper from the United Kingdom and the BBC among other places there was an announcement of the latest findings of possible past significant water on Mars. This study concluded that in the ancient past 36% or just over a third of the surface of Mars was covered with a significant layer of water including a vast northern ocean over much of Mars' northern hemishpere which still has much of the lower elevation regions on the planet. This conclusion was reached by using the data from Mars orbiters to determine that about 52 past river deltas lay at the same level and probably mostly flowed into the ancient northern ocean of Mars. In these reports it is mentioned that this water persisted until about 3.5 billion years while they would say that the age of Mars might be about 4.5 billion years. However young earth creationists including myself would say these ages are much more recent with perhaps just over 5 thousand years for the end of this water on Mars perhaps coinciding with God's curse on earth in His judgement of the flood of Noah and an age of 6 to 7 thousand years for the creation of Mars and the universe including earth. In this ancient time Mars would also have had a much more substantial atmosphere including significant rain. It has been determined in this article that there could also have been past life on Mars at this time and that these delta regions should be a priority for future landers or rovers from NASA or other space agencies to look for life especially when the spacecraft have the capability to look for biological material like an updated version of the past American Viking landers. There are apparently still some people that think all these landforms that look like they were carved by liquid water were actually formed by volcanic activity on Mars but these latest discoveries that give further support for an ancient ocean of liquid water on ancient Mars should help dispel the volcanic theory further. As a biblical Christian as I said elsewhere in this article I think there could be some extraterrestrial life like a counterpart to our bacteria or even our plants and animals but I don't believe there is extraterrestrial intelligent life (other than God, departed believers and angels of course) as I think God would mention this phenomena more in his word if it was true and perhaps more evidence would have been gathered by the Seti projects like their radio telescopes.

Qualification of Recent Gullies on Mars March 2009

In early March 2009 it was announced that after some study it has been concluded that the gullies on Mars are about one million years old (on an evolutionary time scale although I am sure from a creationist perspective there is support for an age at most thousands of years old). This conclusion is based on the lack of craters on top of these gullies that indicates they are fairly recent on an evolutionary and probably creationist time scale. It has been concluded that these gullies were not formed by rock slides or other means but were formed by liquid water but that unfortunately it has been concluded these have not happened in the immediate past (the last couple years of decades etc.).

June 2008 On Site Confirmation of Water (Ice) on Mars from Phoenix Lander

Although at this time it still has to be confirmed by putting it in one of the ovens in the Phoenix Lander and seeing at what temperature in vaporizes, it has already been largely confirmed that there is water ice just under the surface in at least some of the polar areas of Mars. The landing site of the Phoenix lander was chosen because, as seen from orbit, there were definite indications that there should be ice just under the surface in this location (probably within a couple inches or several centimeters of the surface. It as of November 2008 was later confirmed by putting this sample in the oven that the sample included water ice. As it has looked since the Phoenix lander landed there has been some white areas revealed that could probably be ice that were probably uncovered by the thruster rockets that slowed the descent of the lander before it reached the surface. These rockets probably blew away the top couple inches or several centimeters of soil that is probably dust blown there by Martian winds from other parts of the planet. What is more important that the scoop on the arm of the Phoenix lander dug a small trench that also uncovered some white material. The scientists on the Mars Phoenix lander team waited about 4 days to see what would happen to this white material and as can be seen from comparative pictures before and after these four days the original white material disappeared after the 4 days had elapsed. It was thought at first the white material could be a type of Martian salt or even solid carbon dioxide or dry ice. However the salt wouldn't disappear (sublimate) into gas as this material had done and the temperatures at this site would be too warm for carbon dioxide to be frozen (at least at this season in the Martian year.) The only other material that would be common on that part of Mars that would form at those temperatures and pressures and that would disappear (sublimate) under the given material is water ice so the fact it did disappear in 4 days as well as the fact that this was an area that should have water ice as determined from orbit results in the conclusion that this white material is indeed water ice. The orbiters can detect the presence of ice from orbit but can't determine the form in which it occurs such as clumps or layers etc. Next the scientists hope to put some of the other ice that has been shown to be common around the lander into one or more of the onboard ovens and heat up the material to see if it does indeed vaporize at the temperature for water but also to see what other material might be in the ice including organic chemicals which this lander is also built to detect. If organic chemicals are found this could give more support for the hope that in the past and perhaps even at the present there is at least microbial life on Mars as there are some kinds of bacteria on earth that can survive in water ice I think especially if there are organic chemical in that ice. Even if it is just fossil bacteria that is found on Mars, as long as it can be demonstrated it hasn't been from contamination from Earth, such as from previous landers, it would still be a groundbreaking discovery and would mean that life occurs on more than one place in the universe and probably many places including perhaps more advanced life on more earthlike extrasolar planets or planets of other stars. As a Bible believing Christian I wouldn't find this a problem as I believe God could have created the universe this way if he chose and I don't think there is any contradiction with the Bible although I would have a problem if any human like life is found on any other planet. I think this is next to impossible on Mars as we have studies it in detail for a couple decades and found do clear evidence of people or their building or presence although I am aware there are people that point to the face on Mars and supposed pyramids in some regions of Mars. If no evidence of even bacteria life in this location on Mars is found it could mean that this was just a bad sample or that there isn't any even bacteria life on Mars. I don't believe there is any humanoid or intelligent life on Mars as a Christian since I think God would have mentioned this at least in the Bible so we could pray for them for their salvation or God's help for them or perhaps eventually if we achieved a better technological level to visit them or even with current technology to communicate with them via light, radio waves or other electromagnetic radiation. I also think having another humanoid race would provide a problem or whether the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God would have to go to those planets to die for any sins they committed or whether Jesus's death on Earth would count for their sins but that they couldn't receive him if they haven't heard about him.

Other Discoveries of Phoenix Lander in 2008

Other discoveries of the Phoenix Lander which has now been declared dead due to end of communications due to the approaching northern winter and declining sunlight include the following. Carbonates and clay were discovered which both need liquid water to form and therefore are clear indicators of the past presence of liquid water. Also discovered by the Phoenix lander was the mineral perchlorate which could have provided energy to any bacteria or other material that might have existed in past water at this location in ancient Mars. The soil was also found to be mildly alkaline or basic which would support some life including plants that grow on earth. This is in contrast to somewhat acidic soil at the locations of the two Nasa rovers Spirit and Opportunity near the Martian equator. Unfortunately with the end of the Phoenix lander there is no more possibility of finding organic material or signs of at least past bacteria until an appropriate future mission lands and starts operation.

March 2009 Probable Discovery of Liquid Water on Phoenix Mars Lander

IN the end of March 2009 after more careful examination of some of the pictures from the Phoenix Mars Lander after it ceased operations an astounding discovery was made. There were what appreared to be small but clearly visible in photographs drops of some liquids. It was clear that this material was a liquid as it ran down the leg of the lander and coalesced into bigger drops as would be expected for a liquid. Although most scientists viewed the existence of liquid water on Mars as an impossibility because of its cold temperature and low atmospheric pressure it does seem that liquid water is the best explanation for the observations on the Phoenix Mars lander. It is definitely known that there is water in that location as the lander uncovered a clear layer of water ice and put some of it in its sampling oven which confirmed the molecule was water ice. However one other compound found in abundance at this location was perchlorates and perhaps some other salts. These salts in water cause the water to freeze at about -60 degrees Celcius just like normal salt that we put on sidewalks on snow or ice in the winter in Canada causes the snow or ice to melt because it lowers the freezing point of the resultant water. This temperature of about -60 degrees Celcius is below the normal daytime temperature at this polar region of Mars at least in the fall and certainly in the Martian summer so temperaturewise this material on the leg of the Phoenix Mars lander but there is still some controversy about these claims especially because the low surface pressure of the atmosphere would make the existence of liquid water on Mars quite unlikely but scientists are trying to understand this physics and the phenomena on the Phoenix lander to better determine if liquid water could form on Mars and whether that is what was observed on the leg of the Phoenix Mars lander. There will probably be more discussion and a better understanding on this issue in the near future. If this is confirmed this would make the search for extraterrestrial life more promising as there are bacteria on earth that could exist in these conditions although it might be too salty for some other microbes.

Discovery in December 2008 of the Mineral Carbonate on Mars

In some isolated locations on Mars, especially the Nili Fossae region near the Isidis depression, there has been a discovery of significant amounts of carbonate on Mars from the Nasa Mars Reconaissance Orbiter. The significance of this find is that with the abundant carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere and due to other factors there should be abundant instances of carbonate on Mars but up to now none was discovered. This is thought to be in articles from space.com and the bbc that the predominant acidic watery environment that occured at one phase of Mars' history over much of the planet would dissolve the carbonate and so make it more difficult to find. The occurence of the carbonate in this location in Nili Fossae and some other locations on Mars indicates some areas of Mars escaped this acidic watery covering which would be harmful to life even microbes or the equivalent. If Mars ever had even bacteria or the equivalent it would only continue or even its fossil form would remain only if it hadn't come into contact with this acidic water that covered much of Mars as bacteria on earth and probably any Martian equivalent would be damaged or destroyed by this acidic water. Therefore this region in the Nili Fossae valley would be a good location to look for past or present at least bacteria life on Mars as has been pointed out on other sources. This should help Nasa or the space agencies of other countries have a specific target area to have a better chance of detecting at least bacteria life on Mars in the near future.

Tentative First Discovery of Caves on Mars in March 2007

Although it has long been the subject of science fiction, especially related to Mars, and possible life or civilizations there the discovery announced on March 17, 2007 of 7 caves that were discovered on Mars by the American Mars Odyssey spacecraft is the first actual scientific evidence for caves on Mars. These caves were all found on the Arsia Mons volcano which is part of the Tharsis Montes complex that is located between Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris. There is a drop of between 80 metres and 130 metres from the mouths of these caves to their floors. The entrances to the caves are between 100 metres and 252 metres across. The floors of the caves continue probably to 73 metres to 96 metres below the surface of this part of Mars although one of these caves has a floor that extends 130 metres below the surface of this part of Mars. The significance of the discovery of these caves on Mars and the hope of finding further ones now is that the surface of Mars is still quite hostile to life, either human, animal, plant or bacteria or the equivalents because of the radiation from the sun and our galaxy and beyond that is almost unhampered by any feature on Mars. On Earth we are protected especially by the thick atmosphere of Earth and our substantial global magnetic field. Mars has no global magnetic field and an atmosphere with only about 1/1000 the surface pressure of Earth's. These caves could provide a good initial refuge for possible human astronauts on Mars. These caves could have practical value as a possible refuge for bacterial life especially if there is any source of liquid water inside these caves. Therefore these caves would also be an excellent choice to start looking for possible Martian microbial life although of course lighting would have to be provided.

Possible Evidence of Recent or Current Microscopic Extraterrestrial Life on Mars

Recently evidence of possible extraterrestrial microscopic life has been found by orbiting unmanned space probes around Mars through the discovery of clear evidence of appreciable Methane or natural gas CH4 and Ammonia NH3. Each of these molecules are primarily composed of Hydrogen a very reactive chemical element. This means in a relatively short time, hundreds of years, they should all react with the Oxygen in the Carbon Dioxide CO2 that is very plentiful in the Martian atmosphere if they are not being replenished. This means there must be some ongoing source for their continued existence in Mars' atmosphere. According to scientists the two most likely sources are geothermal activity such as volcanoes or bacteria life including that which could be beneath the surface. So far despite several orbiters viewing previously and currently the entire surface of Mars there has been no evidence found of active or recent volcanoes or other geothermal activity. This leaves bacteria as the most likely source of these gases in the Martian atmosphere, if they are confirmed, which would be a strong factor in favour of present bacteria life on Mars. Also although the biological chemical analyzing experiments aboard the Viking landers couldn't find any conclusive evidence of bacteria or similiar life on Mars they also had some readings or results that couldn't be dismissed as being caused by extraterrestrial microscopic life either so further examination is needed in this area as well. The failed Mars lander Beagle 2 was equiped to do such testing but unfortunately mission control people lost contact with it before it reached the surface. The present NASA Spirit and Opportunity rovers are only equipped to detect water I think hydrogen but not also carbon related chemicals. On November 5, 2005 I read an article from www.usc.edu, the University of Southern California website, a scientist named Joseph Miller who works in their Keck School has found evidence from some experiments in arid or very dry areas of earth that in one of them in the American state of Utah a source of methane was traced to methanogens or methane breathing out bacteria in the desert soil there. This professor Miller also noted methane has been detected on Mars and that it would be worthwhile to send another rover to look for Methanogens on Mars. The current rovers are not equipped to detect carbon compounds like methane although the earlier Viking ones were and some of the ambiguous signals for life in the Viking experiments could have been produced by methanogens. Finally in 1996 a meteorite was found on the ice in Antarctica that was determined, based on its isotopes or versions of its atoms with numbers of neutrons, to have come from Mars. What is interesting about this meteorite is that it has miniature features that look like they are small bacteria. Although some of the former points used as possible evidence in support of this rock showing Martian bacteria extraterrestrial life have been discounted, one of the points previously against this rock showing authentic extraterrestrial life, that this proposed bacteria was too small to be once alive, has been discounted. This is because simiarly small bacteria called nanobacteria have been found alive on Earth since the discovery of this Martian meteorite in 1996. One could still argue in favour of this rock having authentic Martian extraterrestrial life although it is still debatable.

January 2009 Further Evidence of Emission of Methane Into Mars' Atmosphere as Possible Evidence of Microbial Life

On January 15, 2009 it was announced that from a variety of sources including Europe's Mars Express orbiter around Mars and some large ground telescopes on Earth that emissions of considerable quantities of methane gas have been observed on Mars. These sources of methane CH4 also known as natural gas have been mostly from three areas on Mars: Nili Fossae, Arabia Terra and Syrtis Major. Nili Fossae was also recently in the news as is also mentioned above on this web page as the location where the mineral carbonate was found which is only produced in the presence of liquid water which is also an indication of at least past conditions supportive of life. The amount of the production of methane at these sites on Mars is quite considerable and is comparable to that produced in a place releasing methane near Santa Barbara, California called the Coal Pit Point. Methane on Mars is not stable in its atmosphere and would be oxidized quite quickly to form carbon dioxide and probably water and there is not much methane in Mars's atmosphere at all on a long term basis for this reason. Methane on Mars or in its atmosphere is only likely to come from one of two sources. This is either inorganically from volcanoes or organically from microbes that emit methane. There are microbes on earth like this that get their energy from chemical reactions with hydrogen rather than sunlight and these could exist on Mars and feed off the water ice or any of this ice that might melt below the surface but even if such microbes are confirmed on Mars it is doubtful that they would resemble similiar microbes called methanogens on earth if these microbes on Mars are native to Mars. If these methane expiring or other microbes are found on Mars, I as a Bible believing and creationist Christian would still not have a problem with this. I would believe that this is what God created and would show even more his wisdom and knowledge and power. I also don't think there is a problem with this in the Bible since such microbes if they exist would obviously have no spirit and would need no prayer or saviour as some hypothetical humanoid or spirt possessing extraterrestrial life would. The latter is what I believe if found would present more theological problems for Bible believing Christians. But even on scientific grounds such as the lack of convincing evidence from all the Seti (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) searches I think it is not likely that there is humanoid or spirit possessing extraterrestrial life (except of course for angels and demons that are clearly said to be the heavenly host in the Bible.)

February and March 2008 Discoveries That Appear to Dash Some Optimistic Interpretations of Evidence for Present and Past Life on Mars

December 2009 Elimination of Some Primary Sources on Inorganic Processes Thought to Produce Methane in Mars' Atmosphere

On December 8, 2009 there was an article on the Physorg.com web site titled Life on Mars theor boosted by new methane study. In this article the authors commented that any methane in the atmosphere of Mars couldn't last long because it would be broken up by the solar wind streaming into Mars' atmosphere without the protection from a substantial magnetic field as Earth has. Some leading theories for the nonbiological production of this methane have been volcanoes and perhaps more recently meteors from outer space. However this article concluded that neither of these sources could come close to producing the amount of methane observed in the atmosphere of Mars. There seem to be two remaining candidates for what produces the methane in the atomosphere of Mars. One is that previously produced volcanic material, of which there is some on Mars, reacts with water to produce the methane. The other possibility is the most interesting and exciting for many people including myself which is that the methane is produced by microbes in the soil of Mars or perhaps under the surface. If there were microbes on Mars it would be very interested to determine their nature such as if they are based on DNA as practically all Earth life or on some other organic chemistry. If any possible Mars life is based on DNA it could unfortunately be contamination from Earth even though scientists have been very careful to try to prevent this with all the probes sent to Mars especially landers or rovers. However if these microbes are not based on DNA it is prettly certain they would be distinct Martian life and could give us profound insight into the possibilities of extraterrestrial life in other solar systems and remove some of the terrestrial bias we might still have for the possibility of extraterrestrial life. I am not sure what scientific effort there currently is to try to confirm or eliminate the possibility of the Martian methane being produced my reactions with volcanic rock and water or on the other hand that life is indeed responsible for the production of the methane but the public interest in this subject should put much pressure on the scientific community to get the bottom of this matter. As a Bible believing Christian I say again I personally don't have a problem with some extraterrestrial life certainly with microbes or even something like plants or animals but where I do have a problem is with intelligent humanoid life. With humanoid life there is also the spiritual dimension and whether such a race even sinned against the true God the God of the Bible and the God of heaven and earth and if so whether God would have sent a saviour for them or somehow gave them word about Jesus dying for sins here on earth. This to me sounds like God wouldn't allow this to happen and there is also the matter about why God hasn't been more explicit in the Bible about mentioning such hypothetical people and asking us to at least pray for them.

The main line of evidence that suggested there could still be at least bacteria life on Mars was the discovery of the creation of gullies down the sides of some craters on Mars that were created in the last couple years. It is quite certain these gullies were created in the last couple years because they were present in the most recent close up pictures of Mars from orbitting spacecraft but not present in pictures taken from Mars orbiters several years ago. As I mention earlier on this web page they have been with some justification been interpreted as evidence of the recent flow of liquid water but now after closer examination of the evidence it has been decided as recently reported on www.space.com that these gullies were created not at all by water but just by a land slide of completely dry material from the upper parts of the crater rims. As far as I know this conclusion is has been quite carefully considered before being announced and might be very difficult to overcome as most date and options have already been taken into account. Unfortunately this leaves a much less appealing and romantic current picture of Mars but one we might have to accept unless we find any other features that can be explained more conclusively by liquid water or living organisms such as bacteria.

Another matter for which there has been gathering evidence that points to a less hospitable condition for life on Mars in this case in the ancient past when it is known beyond any doubt that there was substantial bodies and flows of liquid water on much of Mars is the following. It has now been determined that Mars in the evolutionary time scale up to 3.8 billion years ago although I am sure with access to the date there could be as credible explanation that it was only several thousand years ago that Mars was much too acidic in the liquid water that then was there for even bacteria or microbial life to exist or survive. This is argued on the basis of the fairly widespread presence of the mineral Jarosite which is comprised chiefly of iron sulfate which apparently can only be created or maintained in water that is very acidic - too acidic to even support microbial life. Although there are still other parts of Mars that haven't been explored as much or for which the past water might still be proved to be less acidic than some of these areas investigated by the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the indication that two widely separated areas on Mars have remains of Mars' watery past that was too acidic for even microbial life should encourage a further shift to extrasolar planets as places for which not just microbial life in the past or present but even large scale life like plants and animals might not only be possible but a reality now as well as in the remote past and that would provide habitable environments for humans or earthlings to travel to and make settlements on eventually. In a biblical Christian view which holds that the time is short at most several years but perhaps much shorter before the Lord at least takes his church to heaven then seven more years for the tribulation, the most likely time for any manned mission to extrasolar planets on which life might be found or which have a tolerable temperature, liquid water and a life-supporting atmosphere would be in the 1000 year Messianic Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Although it is even more likely there will be habitable planets in the eternal age these will be part of the new heavens and not the existing heavens and we likely will then reach them only with our heavenly bodies while in the Messianic Kingdom technology could be developed, perfected and used to reach them by nuclear rocket or other perhaps yet unforseen or still fictional technology.

July 2008 Discovery by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for an Ancient Wetter Mars

On July 16, 2008 it was announced that the discovery of the widespread presence of the mineral phyllosilicates on Mars indicates that from 4.6 to 3.8 billion years on an evolutionary timescale or perhaps to just after the curse on mankind about 6000 years ago on a biblical timescale most areas of Mars were drenched with liquid water. These rocks were turned to clays and similiar materials by the persistant and pervasive liquid water at that time. These clays had abundant Iron, Magnesium, Aluminum, Mica and Kaolinate. The water had actually become part of the crystal structure of the rocks from that time which also suggests the persistant flow and abundant availability of liquid water. At first it was thought there were only a couple places on Mars where rocks consisting of these Phyllosilicates occurred but on closer examination they have been found to be much more common almost everywhere on Mars. The conditions that gave rise to these Phyllosilicate rocks especially their widespread distribution on Mars indicates that at least at that time Mars was very hospitable to life. More recent rocks however have been altered to contain sulfates which would form where there is significantly less water and under which conditions life would be much more difficult if not impossible because of the acidity of any water containing these sulfates. These are the type of rocks found in the northern equatorial part of Mars by the NASA Spirit and Opportunity rovers. Scientists are now trying to determine what areas of Mars would have a greater abundance of these Phyllosilicate rocks especially near the surface for future rover missions such as the NASA Mars Sciene Laboratory due to launch in 2009.

August 2010 Earth Microbes Last About 1 1/2 Years in Space

In August 2010 it was announced in an article on the BBC titled Beer microbes live 553 days outside ISS that some microbes brought to the outside of the International Space Station survived the full about 1 1/2 years in that place. These bacteria were brought back to earth and found to be still living and healthy. They are a variety of cyano-bacteria that is dependent on cyanogen compounds. They were brought up to the International Space Station within some rocks brought from a seaside cliff on the south of England. They were put on this rock on the outside of the space station and left there for 1 1/2 years. This would subject them to much radiation and extremes of temperature and cause any water to be boiled away that was in the rocks. These bacteria sometimes called OU-20 for the Open University in Britain that was conducting the experiments also thrive in extreme locations on earth such as deserts and Antartica. This will lend support to the idea that earth microbes could survive the trip from Earth to Mars or the Moon or Venus or similiar places when large meteors or asteroids hit the earth and cause some of the debris to escape from Earth. This should also reinforce the need to be careful with even any unmanned spacecraft that are sent to Mars and especially any manned mission when we can see the hardiness of some Earth microbes. If similiar microbes are found on Mars they should be suspect as coming from Earth if they have similiar DNA as Earth bacteria as it is unlikely God would create any independent life on another world with the same DNA basis as life on Earth.

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