Search for life on Mars is frozen

Colin Pillinger explains how Nasa's latest mission suggests that the Red Planet will remain a mystery for a while longer.

By Colin Pillinger Last Updated: 4:53PM GMT 18 Nov 2008

Some time earlier this month, Nasa's Phoenix Lander slipped into a cold-induced coma in the Arctic wastes of the Red Planet. With the onset of winter, the Sun dropped low in the sky, and the temperature fell to -130ºC at night.

Despite being wrapped up as warmly as Nasa's scientists could manage, the lander's electronics – particularly its batteries – were vulnerable to the cold. Without the power from its solar panels, there is little hope that Phoenix will rise again from its long hibernation.

The end of Phoenix's mission illustrates the difficulty we scientists face in probing the secrets of the Red Planet – and in particular in answering the biggest question of all: "Is there, or was there, life on Mars?" The world's media have been maintaining that we are about to find out the answer since the end of the 19th century, when Percival Lowell claimed he could see canals there. QED – there had to be intelligent Martians, and they would be 15ft tall and live in oases.

In the case of Phoenix, the intention was never to search for life, but it would have been nice to know whether the ice cap of Mars was a good place to send appropriately equipped landers for follow-up missions.

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