Mars is strongly believed to have once had large bodies of surface water (Image: GETTY)
Scientists are on the brink of a breakthrough in space exploration following the discovery of a lake of water on the Red Planet’s surface coupled with the identification of fluctuations in methane levels consistent with organic processes.
Professor Vladimir Airapsetian made his exciting prediction to Express.co.uk in the wake of the two exciting discoveries unveiled last month.
First NASA revealed that its Curiosity rover had discovered small but significant changes in the level of methane in the Martian atmosphere depending on seasons, which on Earth are usually a result of biological emissions and as such, an indication of life.
Second, the Marsis radar instrument on board the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter was used to identify a lake located under the planet’s south polar ice cap, which is thought to be about 12 miles in diameter.
Addressing the subject of the lake, Professor Airapetian said: “In my opinion, this study is particularly important given the recent evidence of fossils found in mantle rocks about half a mile below the ground (or the ancient seafloor) of the Iberian continental margin off the coast of Spain and Portugal in 1993.
“This drilling project on Earth strongly suggests that microbial life survives in harsh environments where water is available.
“The current study based on MARS Express radar data suggests the presence of standing bodies of water (or a lake) at depths of about 1 mile below the South Pole Layered Deposits.
“The radar method of identification of subsurface Martian lake was previously use to identify the lake beneath the ice in Antarctica and Greenland.”
The debate about whether there is life on Mars has raged for centuries (Image: GETTY)
He said he was “optimistic” that even if dry and low-pressure conditions on the planet’s surface meant life there was unlikely, the subsurface lake could support microbial life, or at least may have done so in the last.
He added: “It excites researchers to keep looking for signatures of life on Mars.
“This suggests that we need to drill in the Martian surface as deep as we can to find water.
“If the current Curiosity mission can only drill as deep as half an inch, NASA InSight mission should be able to reach up to 16 ft deep and the European ExoMars 2020 mission will try to look for signatures of life up to 6 ft deep.
Curiosity Rover last month detected small but significant fluctuations in methane levels (Image: GETTY)
ExoMars mission has a good chance to find present or extant life or at least complex biological molecules associated with life
“ExoMars mission has a good chance to find present or extant life or at least complex biological molecules associated with life.”
Equally exciting, if not even more so, were Curiosity’s findings in respect of methane levels, Professor Airapetian said, not least because they make geological explanations for what is happening less plausible.
He added: “The results suggest large swings (by a factor of three) of methane that is much greater than expected from seasonal variations and may come from subsurface caves released due to organic decay.
“Together with discovery of carbon-bearing molecules this suggests that only the simplest precursor molecules associated with life could survive on the Martian surface.
Solar Probe will get closer to the sun than any previous craft (Image: NASA)
ExoMars mission has a good chance to find present or extant life or at least complex biological molecules associated with life
“I agree that within next 3-4 years we can witness new evidence from Mars that will excite us with the interesting and surprising possibilities of microbial life forming in harsh conditions of this planet.”
The question of whether there is life on Mars has tantalised mankind for generations.
In 1898, HG Wells wrote of a terrifying invasion of Earth by octopus-like Martians in his seminal novel War of the Worlds.
And several Martian meteorites found on Earth have contain unusual patterns which some scientists argue are primitive fossilised life-forms – although their claims are hotly disputed.
A study published by a team of researchers last month suggested NASA’s Viking probes may have BURNED possible evidence of life on Mars during the course of a pioneering mission to explore the Red Planet 40 years ago.
Meanwhile, NASA is preparing for the launch of a spacecraft which will travel closer to the sun than ever before.
The Parker Solar Probe, which launches from Cape Canaveral today, will come within 3.8million miles of its surface.
This is thanks to a heat shield which can withstand temperatures of 1,370C.