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Whether there is or has been life on Mars remains a subject of great intrigue to scientists, and steps are constantly being taken to make humanity’s greatest discovery. Numerous probes have been sent to the Red Planet in the hope of finding life, but so far they have yielded no results. However, if life were discovered on Mars, it would greatly aid humans in their quest to conquer the solar system.
Companies like SpaceX and NASA are determined to get humans to Mars, but the prospect could still be decades away.
But the discovery of life on Mars could speed up the process.
If life were discovered, it would help scientists better understand how conditions on the red planet could affect humans.
The gravity on Mars is 62 percent weaker than on Earth, and as humans have evolved to adapt to conditions on this planet, even the slightest change in the body could be enormous.
The Red Planet also has very little atmosphere, so it is constantly being bombarded by radiation from the Sun.
By analyzing any potential life on the Red Planet, scientists could learn how increased radiation could affect a human’s genetic makeup.
Studying life that evolved on a different celestial body will give scientists an opportunity to learn how it developed the mechanisms to exist in another mundane environment, according to NASA chief scientist Dr. James Green.
Dr. Green told NASA’s Gravity Assist podcast: “If we can figure that out, if we can figure out the concept of being able to live and grow using, using new changes in our DNA structure that maybe other life forms actually have they done, then we can go anywhere in the galaxy we want, I mean, just open everything! “
READ MORE: Stephen Hawking’s great solution to colonize Mars
Dr. Green added that discovering life, even if it is just microbial, would change the entire worldview of humanity.
He continued: “Microbial life is what we are most likely to find within our solar system, intelligent life that we can find outside of our solar system, which means that the ability to communicate with that intelligent life may be low.
“But you know, even seeing it’s there, even knowing it’s there, even seeing it from afar, I think it can have a great effect on a lot of powerful things.
However, living on Mars is only part of the battle – getting there will be a huge challenge.
Even SpaceX boss Elon Musk has claimed that the first people to get there will have to make the ultimate sacrifice.
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Musk has previously said: “Getting to Mars, I think, is not the fundamental question.
“The fundamental problem is to build a base, to build a city on Mars that is self-sufficient.
“We are going to build a power plant, an initial base on Mars, Mars Base Alpha, and then we will take it to the point where it is self-sufficient.
“I want to emphasize that this is something very hard and dangerous, difficult, not for the faint of heart.
“It is very likely that he will die, it will be difficult, but it will be quite glorious if it works.”
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