Controversy Continues: Mars Meteorite Clings to Life - Or Does It?

Posted by tourdemars to Meteorites at March 20, 2002 12:00 PM

Following years of rigorous study, the inside story of whether meteorite ALH 84001 – the so-called "Mars rock" – harbors evidence for past Martian biology remains steeped in debate. It was a NASA-led research team that announced in August 1996 that the potato-shaped meteorite found in Antarctica might sport fossilized bacteria. They argued that "lines of evidence" pointed to the likelihood that a primitive form of microscopic life that flourished on the red planet three billion years ago had been found. Now, fast-forward from 1996 to five-and-a-half years later. It turns out that rock-solid evidence is hard to come by.