Astronomers have often questioned whether life exists on Mars. NASA funded Pioneering Mars to assemble a team of researchers to explore the possibility of whether life could exist there. Marine scientists at the University of Southern Mississippi and researchers at University of South Alabama are teaming up with Mississippi and Alabama High School students to explore whether microscopic algae could survive on Mars
This year, students at high schools in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama, will have the unprecedented opportunity to engage in hands-on research with a team of university and government scientists working on NASA’s Mission to Mars project. Students will use specially-designed incubators at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to determine whether Antarctic algae could grow in a Martian environment. NASA astronauts will conduct parallel experiments simultaneously on the International Space Station (ISS).
This material is based upon work supported by NASA under grant or cooperative agreement award number NNX12AK94A. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
