Posted by tourdemars to Life on Mars at August 27, 2003 12:00 PM

With Mars at its closest position to Earth in 60,000 years, most Red Planet enthusiasts have their eyes trained on the night sky. Some scientists from Central Washington University have turned their attention elsewhere — to Soap Lake. As part of an $840,000 study funded by the National Sciences Foundation, the team from Central Washington was on the desolate lake Friday collecting samples of green and brown slime, murky water, tiny plankton and worms. They were searching for the type of life that might have existed on Mars.