Space & Astronomy

Ancient Martian organisms may be trapped in ice, study finds

By T.K. Randall
February 25, 2026

Image Credit: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech For many years now, exploratory rovers such as Perseverance and Curiosity have been trundling around on the Martian surface investigating samples of soil and rock for signs of microbial life.

While to date they haven't found anything conclusive, there are definite signs that Mars may have once been habitable and may have provided a safe haven for primitive organisms.

Now, according to a new study by researchers from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Penn State University, the rovers may have been looking in the wrong place.By recreating Mars-like conditions in the laboratory, the team discovered that ancient microbes can potentially survive for tens of millions of years trapped in ice while being bombarded with cosmic radiation.

This means that frozen water deposits, as oppose to soil and rock, might be the better place to look.

"Fifty million years is far greater than the expected age for some current surface ice deposits on Mars, which are often less than two million years old, meaning any organic life present within the ice would be preserved," said study co-author Christopher House.

"That means if there are bacteria near the surface of Mars, future missions can find it."

Source: Science Daily

Tags: Mars