Log+Entry+11+Prompt

Life on Mars?
Write 2-3 paragraphs discussing the following. Be sure to __include at least 2 images__ that relate to your writing and __specifically refer to them in your text__ (i.e., “see Fig. 1”). Don’t forget to save them with your initials when you upload them to the Wiki.

1) Go to the following website about the possibility of life on Mars at the following link, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/366330/Mars/54250/The-question-of-life-on-Mars. Read the sections entitled, “Spacecraft exploration” and “The question of life on Mars.” Summarize the evidence for possible life on Mars from the missions that have gone to Mars and from the meteorites from Mars.

2) The current mission to Mars, MSL, will look for signs of microbial fossil life and perhaps even, living microbes or micro-organisms. What is a microbe or micro-organism? See [] up to “Pre-microbiology. Describe how you would classify if a sample from Mars containing microbes was alive, dead, non-living or dormant. Be sure to define each of the 8 characteristics of life.

If you would like to read more about the possibility of life on Mars, check out this interview with a planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center: [].