Are microbes making the methane that's been found on Mars, or does the hydrocarbon gas come from geological processes? It's the question that everybody wants to answer, but nobody can.

What will it take to convince the jury?


The Phoenix lander, scheduled for launch in August 2007, will go to an ice-rich region near the North Pole, and "dig up dirt and analyze the dirt, along with the ice," says William Boynton of the University of Arizona, who will direct the mission.


http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-life-05t.html