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Question
Would fossil stromatolites or any other signs of bacterial activity be detectable on Mars using the existing probes and landers?
The cameras on the two Mars landers (Spirit and Opportunity) are very good, and they could certainly detect any large fossils on the surface, including stromatolites (dome-shaped mineral formations built by colonies of marine microorganisms, which have existed on Earth for more than 3 billion years). These cameras could not, however, detect the tiny fossils of individual microbes. The main problem with Mars is that not much bedrock is visible at the landing sites. All five successful Mars landers have found themselves on windswept plains covered with a fine hard soil that obscures most of the underlying rock. Thus astrobiologists don't expect to see fossil stromatolites, even if Mars once supported such life forms. It would certainly be great if we did find them, however!
David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
February 13, 2004
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