Is there life on Mars? NASA finally answers the age-old question

Yesterday, July 18, the Space Subcommittee finally conducted a hearing to review NASA's major planetary exploration missions. These delegations include the Mars 2020 rover, as well as the Europa flyby mission.

NASA finally unveiled the truth

Aside from the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, California Republican Dana Rohrabacher also used the opportunity to ask Ken Farley regarding the rumored alien life on Mars.

Farley is the current project scientist overseeing all projects under NASA's Mars 2020 Rover.

Farley tries to answers every question thrown to him. In fact, he explained their research and even claimed that water once flowed on the said planet. When Rohrabacher asked him “You have indicated that Mars was totally different thousands of years ago," the scientist said that there are some bodies of water in Mars about 3.6 million years ago.

Rohrabacher becomes more curious about the possibility of having alien life on the Red Planet. “Is it possible that there was a civilization on Mars thousands of years ago?”

"The evidence is that Mars was different billions of years ago," Farley replied.

Even though there are lakes, rivers, and perhaps a northern ocean on the fourth planet from the Sun, the NASA representative still said that alien life on the planet is extremely unlikely to happen.

So, there you have it! NASA's scientist and representative Ken Farley has denied the existence of aliens on Mars.

Mars as the Red Planet

Mars is the second-smallest planet in the Solar System and the fourth planet from the Sun. It is named after the Roman god of war and often referred to as the "Red Planet."

From the view of an astronomical telescope, Mars is color red because of the iron oxide prevalent on its surface. This planet is a terrestrial one with a very thin atmosphere. Its rotational period and seasonal cycles are likewise similar to those of Earth.

Ever since the 1960s, various groups of spacecraft have explored Mars and the other planets, but consequently failing to detect any solid evidence to prove that alien life existed. However, NASA still wants to access the planet.

Mars 2020 and ExoMars Rovers

Future Astrobiology missions are already planned and this includes NASA's Mars 2020 rover and European Space Agency or ESA's ExoMars rover.

Mars 2020 is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program with a planned launch in 2020. Its main goal is to investigate an astrobiological relevant ancient habitat on Mars, as well as the surface geological processes of the planet.

On the other hand, ExoMars rover is a planned robotic mission led by the Russian Roscosmos State Corporation and ESA. Both Russian lander and ESA carrier module is expected to land the planet's surface in July 2020.