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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Viking Mission May Have Missed Mars Life, Study Finds


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Spain's highly acidic Rio Tinto is an example of an extreme Earth environment that sustains the type of life that may not have been detected by the Viking Mars landers in 1976, scientists report in a new study.

Revisiting Viking's tests could challenge future Mars missions to step up the technologies used in the search for life, the scientists say.

Photograph courtesy Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez/PNAS