Aliens Responsible for Methane on Mars?

Nasa scientists have announced that they detected large quantities of Methane gas on Mars which could be being produced by alien bugs.

The emissions of Methane, as large as some of those seen on Earth could be either a biological or geological source. On Earth, life is responsible for more than 90% of the atmospheric methane. Experts believe that there is a good possibility that a biological source such as microbial organism have also produced the gas on Mars. Methane was first detected in the Martian atmosphere five years ago. Scientists have found that the methane detected is now more abundant over particular parts of the planet which suggests that the methane is made by an ongoing process. Sunlight destroys methane so only stays in the atmosphere for a short time. Since there is continued presence it suggests that the methane is being replenished. For the last seven years, three large telescopes in Hawaii have been used to scan 90% of the Martian surface with these results being reported in the journal Science. The report suggests that specific wavelengths of infrared light indicated the presence of methane in the planet’s northern hemisphere in early and late summer 2003. Scientists say that the primary “plume” contained an estimated 19,000 tonnes of the gas. Researchers are undecided if the methane is produced by a geological or biological source. Dr. Michael Mumma, a senior planetary scientist at Nasa’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Maryland, US said: “We’d like to map the gases being released to establish which of those are more likely biological in origin versus others that may be geochemical in origin.” “On this basis we could target several interesting sites for lander missions.” In 2011, Nasa’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover is due to launch to the red planet. It will carry instruments that have the potential to distinguish between carbon in gases with a geochemical origin and those produced by biological activity.