NASA's unmanned Viking 1 Orbiter and Lander touches

down on the surface of Mars.

Three weeks later, it is joined by its companion, the Viking 2.

For the first time ever, humanity has established

a presence on another planet.

The Viking Landers actually landed on Mars

and took a sample, but they landed in one spot

and they stayed in one spot.

We've since sent the Pathfinder Sojourner.

For the first time, we have a system on Mars

that if we see something shiny over there

and we want to go check it out, we'll send the rover

and get a very close look at it, take samples, get

high definition video from it.

And that is a very good start for figuring

out where people need to go when we

get ready to send them there.

NARRATOR: In 2012, the Curiosity Rover

landed on Mars' Gale Crater.

It was the most ambitious Mars mission flown by NASA today.

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NARRATOR: One if its objectives was to gather data that will

help scientists determine what is

needed to make the planet more habitable for human

exploration.

In June 2018, Scientist and Aerospace Engineer Dr.

Travis Taylor traveled to Johnson

Space Center in Houston, Texas.

There he met with NASA Exploration Mission

Scientist Dr. Elizabeth Rampe.

Dr. Rampe analyzes data obtained by the Mars Curiosity Rover,

which six years into its mission,

is sending back some of its most extraordinary findings yet.

So there was very late breaking news recently

from the Curiosity Rover, and some interesting information

came out of the Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM instrument.

So SAM can measure gases in the atmosphere.

And it can also measure gases that are evolved from samples.

So basically, we drill a rock, deliver that powder

to the instrument, and then that instrument heats up the sample

and measures the gases that are coming off.

Whatever out gases, it can tell you what this--

what that is, right?

Exactly.

So a big piece of information from the atmosphere

is that we've been tracking methane

over the last few martian years.

And what we see is that there is a cycle to it,

where it spikes late summer, early autumn, and then dips

again.

Wow.

Yeah, so the big question is why is that happening?

Right, so that could possibly be due to an organic material,

right, or a biological source?

Exactly. So that's--

Meaning life.

Right, I know, so huge.

Wow.

It's not the only hypothesis out there.

TRAVIS TAYLOR: Sure.

But there is the possibility that there

is extant life on Mars that is creating this methane.

Wow.

The fact that NASA has now released information

that they've measured a cycle of methane that

goes up in the summer and down in the winter--

it sounds very similar to how biological processes

create methane here on Earth.

That could be evidence that there's life right now on Mars.

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