The question of whether ife on Mars existed (or still exists) has been long debated. Recently important new evidence of past life has been discovered. A meteor known to have come from Mars was discovered to contain possible fossilized remains of microscopic bacteria. This discovery was highly publicized and has helped to support those who believe in past life on Mars.

Along with this publicity, the planned series of Mars probes to be launched by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has received an increase in funding which will allow the mission to take place sooner, and perform more tests may be performed than first anticipated. Now there may be an excellent possibly for a sample-return mission and even a manned mission to Mars someday. These missions could reveal incredible facts about life in our solar system.

For years there has been much speculation over what a sample-return mission and/or a manned mission to Mars would reveal of past, or even present life on the supposedly "dead" red planet. Now it seems as though we may find out sooner than we ever thought.

If it can proven that life did indeed exist on Mars, many a textbook will be rewritten. For years Mars has been dismissed as a dead, desolate planet without a faint sign of life. The water that once flowed through it has long since frozen solid, and the oxygen has all but left the atmosphere; but did that stop all life? Could there not be underground oceans teeming with new forms of life never before seen by the eyes of man? All we can do now is wait and see what the probes turn up and wonder if life exists on Mars.