PIA00284: Mars Life? - Microscopic Tube-like Structures
Target Name: Mars
Is a satellite of: Sol (our sun)
Mission: Antarctic Meteorite Location and Mapping Project (AMLAMP)
Product Size: 712 samples x 484 lines
Produced By:
Producer ID: S96-12299
Addition Date: 1996-08-09
Other Information: NASA Announcement
Primary Data Set: AMLAMP_PAGE
Full-Res TIFF: PIA00284.tif (273.4 kB)
Full-Res JPEG: PIA00284.jpg (117.2 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:
This electron microscope image is a close-up of the center part of photo number S96-12301. While the exact nature of these tube-like structures is not known, one interpretation is that they may be microscopic fossils of primitive, bacteria-like organisms that may have lived on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago. A two-year investigation by a NASA research team found organic molecules, mineral features characteristic of biological activity and possible microscopic fossils such as these inside of an ancient Martian rock that fell to Earth as a meteorite. The largest possible fossils are less than 1/100th the diameter of a human hair in size while most are ten times smaller.

Image Addition Date:
1996-08-09