Viking Data May Hide New Evidence for Life

This article, while a few years old, discusses the possibility that the first scientific mission to Mars, the twin Viking Lander, may have actually found some evidence on the planet, contrary to what was thought at the time. When the lander originally made it to the planet, the instruments on-board found no evidence that there was any organic life on the planet. This may possibly change, though. When reviewing Antarctic samples containing certain microbial life before the Mars mission, the instruments used were unable to detect organic material in samples known to contain microbial life. This then brings the results that life is not present on Mars into question. Furthermore, another instrument that collected data on Mars was found to have organic material within its collection chamber following the mission. It seems now that, following recent research about the inability of the Viking Lander's instruments to detect organic material left behind by microbial life, that the possibility of life on Mars is one that is in need of more exploration and study.