There’s a very cool and interesting article on The Verge discussing the implications of discovering liquid, flowing water on Mars. While many people—myself included—are excited about this discovery, the article highlights the massive obstacles that still need to be overcome before we can do anything with this knowledge. However, the exciting part is that these are relatively short-term, solvable problems, and they are likely the only things standing between us and what many consider to be one of the most important discoveries in history.
What makes the discovery of liquid water on Mars so significant, compared to finding it 20 kilometers below the icecaps of Europa, is that there is a genuine possibility of accessing this water within the lifetime of many people alive today. Once we can test the water, assuming contamination can be avoided, we’ll face a major crossroads in our exploration of the Red Planet.
Given how resilient life on Earth has proven to be—imagine surviving at the bottom of a boiling sulfuric volcano in pitch-black conditions—it’s highly plausible that some form of life could exist in Mars’ water. The results of this research could go one of two ways: we could either discover extraterrestrial life, or we might not. (There’s also the terrifying possibility of inconclusive results due to contamination, but let’s not think about that yet.)
If no life is found, we continue our search elsewhere, but if we do discover life from another world, it would be an event that could upend history, religion, and human belief systems. Imagine how many of our questions about the universe would be altered in an instant. The discovery of alien life would dwarf questions like, “Did God create the world?” or “Did life start in a primordial soup?” These questions, while significant, would suddenly seem small in comparison.
Ultimately, the discovery of liquid water on Mars has put humanity at the gateway of a discovery so monumental that it’s hard to put into words how significant it would be. It’s like the first time a curious primate picked up a branch and thought of using it as a club—he had no idea where this newfound ability would take him, but he knew something big was coming. That’s where humanity stands now. We may be on the cusp of a discovery beyond our imagination, and that uncertainty only fuels the drive to explore. Now we just need to wait—and hope it doesn’t take too long.