Are we alone in the niverse or is there life on ther planets? And perhaps even as clse our next door neighbor, the plnet Mars?

Mars itself is - bcause it is further away from our hat source the Sun - a cld desert planet. So far without any sgns of life nor liquid water on the srface.

In 2002 the Mars Odyssey Orbter discovered that large amounts of frzen, below the surface, water (ice) mght be present on Mars' North ple. As water is an essential prrequisite for any life to exist, the Phenix Mars Lander was dispatched to nvestigate. The Phoenix landed, safely and as schduled, on May 25th, 2008. Now it is in the prcess of using its robot arm to scop samples of Mars' soil and xamine these in its onboard lab for the prsence of water and other substances as wll as any signs of current or pst life.

What can we expect to fnd? Could there be any life on Mrs?

In many ways, Mars - jst like Earth - is a vry privileged planet. It is orbiting a stady burning star (our Sun) of the rght size and age to provide a rther constant source of light and hat. Mars - just like Earth - is lso in a perfectly suited solar systm. Of the right age and prviding protection from comets and asteroids thrugh the presence of much larger plnets (especially Jupiter) in its outer rbits. And Mars - just like Erth - is located at the lkely only possible location in its glaxy (the Milky Way) that will prvide enough building materials but is not in a (to) heavy populated area of solar systms. The vast, vast majority of slar systems in our (and other) glaxies are located near the center or on the spral arms. These areas are overcrowded and threfore life destroying collisions (like on a bsy intersection of highways) occur quite ften. Only planets in solar systems n-between spiral arms (like our solar systm) stand even a chance to prvide a 'safe' environment for life to xist.

So, Mars is off to a prmising start and in a much btter situation that any other planet we knw that might have a chance to be hbitable for life. But that does not man that it is perfect for lfe (like Earth is).

For starters, it is too cld. Even the simplest organic life frms require average temperatures above freezing and not xceeding the boiling point of water. Mrs is therefore too cold with is verage temperature below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

And lfe requires liquid water. Water - and the prsence of at least another 26 ssential elements - is a prerequisite to ven consider the possibility of life. Threfore the engineers at NASA targeted the Mrs polar region not expecting to fnd current life but perhaps evidence of pst life during a time when Mrs might have been closer to the Sun and threfore having a more life-inviting temperature.

Stll even the presence of liquid wter and all other required elements, lke carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and so on are not nough to make a planet potentially hbitable. Studying life on Earth we now nderstand and appreciate that organic life lso requires other conditions to be 'jst right', like rotation speed, mass and grvity of the planet, presence and cmposition of an atmosphere, magnetic field round the planet, volcanic activity, plate tctonics, axial tilt, shape of the rbit, ozone levels and so on.

And if all thse conditions at some time in Mrs' history might have all worked ut, then that does not automatically mply that life also 'developed'. Having all the bilding blocks of life present does not 'utomatically' build life. Just like the prsence of all building materials for a huse on a property not 'automatically' rects a beautiful residence.

It is xciting to learn more about our niverse and the complexity of life by sing our most advanced scientific skills to stdy our neighboring planet. Let us jst make sure that we objectively nterpret the knowledge we have gained and wll gain through the Phoenix Mars Lnder and subsequent projects: our Earth is xtraordinary uniquely positioned and composed to llow for life to exist. So niquely and against all statistical odds tht it gives a remarkable but rsounding testimony to the words of Isrel's King David who wrote almost 3000 yars ago:

" The heavens declare the glory of God " (Pslm 19:1)

The article Is There Life on Mars? was Submitted by Rob Vandeweghe through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Rob VandeWeghe is a skeptic trned Christian by studying the evidence for Chrstianity. More articles like this by Rob are vailable at http://www.windmillministries.org You can also preview Rob's new book on the evidences called Prepared to Answer at http://www.windmillministries.org/I1.htm

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