Mormile's UMR lab is equipped with a special inverted microscope and micromanipulator. In the book and the movie, scientists find a prehistoric mosquito trapped in amber. We're doing something similar with the bacteria that is trapped in salt crystals. And we hope to do this with Mars samples as well. Such confirmation is necessary to prove that bacteria can live for hundreds of millions of years on Earth, a conclusion that would make life on Mars all the more plausible.
Scientists already know that bacteria can live without light or oxygen.
They can thrive in boiling water or below the Arctic ice. Existing bacteria have been found in radioactive waste and, interestingly enough, in the belly of a bee trapped in amber for more than 25 million years. If bacteria can survive under these conditions for so long, Mormile says, there is no reason to believe they can't exist in Mars' harsh environments, especially under its surface. Even though bacteria are not as fascinating to most people as aliens with big eyes, I think we could be in for some astounding discoveries. A Lockheed Martin Athena 1 will launch the Kodiak Star mission for NASA and the Air Force no sooner than Saturday from Kodiak Island, Alaska.