NASA’s Viking Mission May Have Destroyed Martian Life with Water Experiments

In 1975, NASA’s Viking mission tested Martian soil for microbial life using liquid water. A recent theory suggests this approach may have destroyed microbes adapted to Mars’ dry, salt-driven conditions. Astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch proposes revisiting our assumptions about life on Mars and prioritising methods suited to its hyperarid environment. This theory h…