New information about the rocks and dirt and surface radiation, and at some point somebody’s going to find something that may or may not look a little bit like it might be a fossilized microbe.
I think it’s an important step, even if they don’t find anything world-shattering. We may yet drag ourselves to Mars this century.
I predict they will find evidence of life in the strata corresponding to 2.5 Billion years ago to 1.4 BYA. (+ or – 100 years).
It was single celled, carbon based, and used Si and Fe oxidation as the primary energy reaction.
It would be amazing if they found evidence that life had existed on Mars but I don’t think it is likely. We will learn a bit more about Martian geology and the history of the planet but probably nothing very exciting.
Seriously, if a future probe ever gets to Mar’s great ice region and somehow dig deep enough, it would find life. What else, jellies of high intelligence and great poise. As if you Flutherites didn’t know!
I think we will find evidence of life on mars. However, I don’t think we are going to find it with our current means of exploration. The surface is too dangerous for organisms to survive, they would likely be in deep caverns or other places our rover can’t easily access.
Idle curiosity, but exactly how much of Mars’ surface have we documented, for NASA to reasonably be hoping to find life, or fossils?
Wells imagined a dying race of spacefaring Martians. Heinlein was content with secretive starfish aliens and flat cats. NASA has never hoped for more than microbes, and now we have people all set to be giddy over fossils.
Life may be hardy, but hope is truly a clingy beast.
We already know who inhabits the red planet. Here is an example. Photo. They are looking for male breeding stock from Earth. The line forms to the right.