Are you ready to live on Mars?

  For centuries people have gazed at Mars, the red planet, and wondered if life could exist on this distant world. In the early 1900s, Percival Lowell saw long, linear features on Mars and suggested that these marks were canals or ditches carved into the surface by an advanced or perhaps dying civilization, and the imagination of the world was captured. Science-fiction novels raised people’s hopes and expectations that our nearest outward neighbor might have advanced life-forms, or once have hosted superior civilizations. As technology and understanding of planetary evolution advanced, hopes of finding advanced life-forms on Mars diminished and were replaced by hopes of finding even simple life, answering the question “Are we alone?”

once and for all. As exploration of the solar system continued, remnants of ice and traces of once-flowing water were discovered on Mars, increasing the chances for life. Excitement was generated twice in the late 20th century, first when meteorites thought to be from Mars had organic remains identified in them, and then again when samples taken from Mars yielded what appeared to be fossil organisms. Unfortunately, both claims were proven false, but hopes of finding life continue, and a new generation of Mars orbiters, landers, and rovers are currently exploring the planet with the hopes of finding signs of life.