Editor's Summary
16 August 2007
Organics on Mars?
The Viking lander gas chromatograph-mass spectrometers sent back convincing evidence that their bits of Mars at least, were sterile. A result that surprised and disappointed many. Will NASA's Phoenix mission, now on its way to performing some martian chemistry of its own, have more luck?
News Feature: Space exploration: Secrets of the martian soil
For 30 years scientists have believed that there are no organic molecules in the martian soil. Will NASA's Phoenix probe prove them right or wrong, asks Corinna Wu.
doi:10.1038/448742a