Life on MARS? NASA robot's BREAKTHROUGH find could be PROOF of ALIEN LIFE on red planet

The robot was tested in the Atacama Desert in Chile, the most Mars-like environment on Earth. A soil sample collected by the robot included unusual microbes, which had adapted to deal with very low qualities of water and nutrients. This finding raised suspicions that similar microbes could be found on Mars.

Professor Stephen Pointing, who led the research, said: “We have shown that a robotic rover can recover subsurface soil in the most Mars-like desert on Earth.

“This is important because most scientists agree that any life on Mars would have to occur below the surface to escape the harsh surface conditions where high radiation, low temperature and lack of water make life unlikely.

“We found microbes adapted to high salt levels, similar to what may be expected in the Martian subsurface. These microbes are very different from those previously known to occur on the surface of deserts.”

The microbes were able to spread out further in patches, helping them reach the limited quantities of water in the soil.

READ MORE: Mars breakthrough – ‘Inspiring’ UK-built Rover put through paces

NASA and the European Space Agency both plan to send robot rovers to Mars in 2020.

These will look for traces of life, including digging into the soil to search for any microbes.

Professor Pointing added: “The core of the Atacama Desert in Chile is extremely dry, experiencing decades without rainfall.

“It has high surface UV radiation exposure and is comprised of very salty soil.

READ MORE: NASA SHOCK – How live feed was CUT after ‘PULSATING’ anomaly spotted

“It’s the closest match we have on Earth to Mars, which makes it good for testing simulated missions to this planet.”

The rover pulled up soil samples from as far as 80cm beneath the surface.

The study was published in the Frontiers in Microbiology journal.

Co-authors Nathalie Cabrol and Kim Warren-Rhodes commented: “These results confirm a basic ecological rule that microbial life is patchy in Earth’s most extreme habitats, which hints that past or present life on other planets may also exhibit patchiness.”

source: express.co.uk