Mars is one of Earth's closest neighbors, a mere 140 m miles away, so it makes sense to ask if there was - or possibly still is - life on the Red Planet. There’s no evidence yet, but NASA’s Perseverance rover is searching for signs that microbial life (fossilized, microscopic life) may have inhabited Mars billions of years ago. If life does exist on Mars now, scientists believe it would be in the deep subsurface, where conditions are warmer and wetter. Mars is potentially habitable several miles below its surface due to the melting of thick ice sheets fueled by geothermal heat. Some scientists believe there was a vast ocean in Mars’ Northern Hemisphere. The planet’s other features suggest river valleys, streams, basins and deltas. In 2018, Science reported that astronomers found an underground lake of liquid water below Mars’ surface by using a radar instrument on the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Mars Express spacecraft. Three new underground lakes have since been detected near the planet’s South Pole. The lakes are believed to be extraordinarily salty, however, so the water might not be drinkable even if the lakes can be reached. Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is stranded on Mars and must farm and eat potatoes for hundreds of days in the 2015 film The Martian. His position raises the intriguing question of whether potatoes can be grown on Mars. In Pampas de la Joy, the most dry region of Peru's coastal desert and the closest thing to Mars' soil on Earth, NASA and the International Potato Center (yeah, it really is called that) conducted experiments. The results were positive and may assist farmers in growing food on marginal regions on Mars.
Scientists have puzzled for decades over why the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars appear to be so different. The Northern Hemisphere has flat lowlands, while the Southern Hemisphere is dotted with volcanoes across highlands. Scientists speculate that a celestial object - probably a giant space rock - smashed into the South Pole in the early days of the Solar System, generating energy that created a Magma ocean in the Southern Hemisphere. The molten rock may have then solidified into the mountainous highlands.
In addition to explaining what life is like on Mars - mainly by sending back video, 360-degree photos and the first audio recording of the planet - the rover’s main mission is to hunt for signs of ancient life in zero Crater, the site of a lake 3.5bn years ago. Deposits of minerals line the inner rim of zero like a bathtub ring, so it is the perfect hunting ground. The rover will drill into the ancient river delta and collect rock samples that will be returned to Earth, hopefully within a decade. Of course, its other important mission is to bring greetings from planet Earth. In addition to the binary coded message on the rover parachute saying 'Dare Mighty Things', the rover is carrying 10.9 m earthly names on a microchip alongside a message in Morse code.
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