Life on Mars If the surface life has been reanimated as recently as 450,000 years ago, then rovers on Mars could find dormant but still viable life at a depth of one meter below the surface, according to an estimate. In 1965, the Mariner 4 probe discovered that Mars had no global magnetic field that would protect the planet from potentially life-threatening cosmic radiation and solar radiation; observations made in the late 1990s by the Mars Global Surveyor confirmed this discovery. Scientists speculate that the lack of magnetic shielding helped the solar wind blow away much of Mars's atmosphere over the course of
Mars habitat Space medicine One idea for a Mars missions is a library sent to the surface of that planet. The Phoenix lander, which landed on the North polar surface of Mars in 2008, included a DVD library that was heralded as the first library on Mars. The Phoenix library DVD would be taken by future explorers who could access the content on the disk. The disc, both a memorial to the past and a message to the future, took 15 years to produce. The content on the disc includes "Visions of Mars". One idea for exploration is knowledge arks for space,