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Nature 413, 247-248 (20 September 2001) | doi:10.1038/35095124
The stowaways
Tom Clarke1
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Abstract
Over the coming decade, exploration of Mars may reveal whether or not life ever existed on the red planet — but only if the missions can avoid detecting any microbes they bring with them, says Tom Clarke.
In 1976, NASA's two Viking landers bumped down on the surface of Mars and began their search for life. They failed to find any, showing instead that the martian topsoil is extremely inhospitable — highly oxidizing and continually bombarded by massive doses of ultraviolet radiation.
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