PART I:THE VIKING EVIDENCE Over the past several decades, NASA has heen sending

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PART I:THE VIKING EVIDENCE Over the past several decades, NASA has heen sending mnts In 19761 bgf these solar system, and to assess the habitability of nearby pn-based c landers discovered that the soil on Mars contai biological or binze it as li organic compounds could have come from Mars landers di resultsats onancome fconain canets, is nto outer space results and d explore our y of nearby planets. In 1976, the NASA Viking Mars gical or biological sources. What if these SA has been sending missions into outer space to Mars ave come from non-biological or biological sourees iover life on Mars? Would we be able to recogtize kolated specimen rs can perform several small scale experiments on th In interpret the to recognize it as life ecimen. menta the results on on page 1 of your handout. In your small groups you Analyze raw your own conclusions. conclusions. Experiment 1: White-film production The lande noculated several sterile culture dishes with Martian soil. A white-film soon formed r inoculated ce ol each culture dish. The white-film resembles a dry crust and can be scraped off on the su on the surface of each culture dish. The white-film resembles a dry crusi-film quickly coats and transferred into a new sterile culture dish. Once transferred, the the new dish. Note: Mi ote: Mic duced by the specimens croorganisms are capable of depositing crystalline structures similar to those pro- Experiment 2: Heat Resistance The specimens were exposed to a variety of stress tests. Extreme temperature shifts (between -60C to 20C) had little to no impact on growth rate (white-film production). However, extreme heat (above the temperature ranges found on the surface of Mars) significantly inhibited growth. Experiment 3: Radiation Radiation exposure caused specimen growth to completely cease. Experiment 4: Appearance in shape, with an average Under the microscope. specimens appear round (coccoid) in shape, with an avernge diameter be- tween 0.2-0.5 mm. 0000 microscopy of stained white-m maternal showing smal coccoid shapped particles (02pm) (b) Transmission electron microscopy of (c) Transmission eiedtron the specimen particles observed in thin microscopy sections of white-fim material (a) Scanning electron microscope of white-fim material

Explanation / Answer

Life is managing to survive or exist even after exposure to extreme conditions. The capability of genetic material to transfer itself into a new host where it can multiply and proliferate.

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