<p>According to the answers to my other question - <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/49158/most-powerful-microscope-on-mars">Most powerful microscope on Mars?</a></p>
<p>The microscopes on Mars do not search for life. SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman &amp; Luminescence for Organics &amp; Chemicals) makes chemical analysis of rocks that may provide evidence of ancient life.</p>
<p>And then the question is: are the human-made devices sent to Mars looking for existing life? Or only for evidence of ancient life? If not looking for existing life then why?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-26T13:54:28.263Z
Most astrobiologists deem the likelihood of life existing currently on Mars to be extremely low. That life did exist billions of years ago on Mars is deemed to be much more likely than it is now, so that is what is being investigated.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-26T16:16:30.407Z
Unbelievable! Yet, life might still exist and adapted to live in ways we can't imagine yet. A 1000x magnification can show bacteria in stunning detail, such a microscope is very cheap and not that heavy, I can't believe they are not trying to use such a microscope
Joe Jobs
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-26T20:35:49.010Z
Microscopes may not be heavy, but the inclusion of one could result in something else not being sent to Mars. It's a question of priorities. The surface of Mars is hostile to life: low temperatures, high radiation, lack of water. Any life on Mars will most likely be beneath the surface. It's very unlikely that any of the rovers will over turn a rock & there will be microbes on what was the underside of the rock. Also, looking at images produced microscopes would time intensive & not easily automated. There are also band width limitations on the amount of data that can be sent from Mars.
Fred
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-29T17:04:03.503Z
Sorry but those arguments are really weak. Nothing is more important than finding life on Mars. Extremophiles live in conditions hostile to life too: temperature, radiation, lack of water. Rovers can drill. There is plenty of bandwidth for a lot of images that were already sent.
Joe Jobs
<mars><life>
Are the human-made devices on Mars searching for existing life?
Joe Jobs
# Are the human-made devices on Mars searching for existing life?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-06-26)

According to the answers to my other question - [Most powerful microscope on Mars?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/49158/most-powerful-microscope-on-mars)

The microscopes on Mars do not search for life. SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) makes chemical analysis of rocks that may provide evidence of ancient life.

And then the question is: are the human-made devices sent to Mars looking for existing life? Or only for evidence of ancient life? If not looking for existing life then why?

**Tags:** mars, life
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Most astrobiologists deem the likelihood of life existing currently on Mars to be extremely low. That life did exist billions of years ago on Mars is deemed to be much more likely than it is now, so that is what is being investigated.  
> **username_0**: Unbelievable! Yet, life might still exist and adapted to live in ways we can't imagine yet. A 1000x magnification can show bacteria in stunning detail, such a microscope is very cheap and not that heavy, I can't believe they are not trying to use such a microscope  
> **username_2**: Microscopes may not be heavy, but the inclusion of one could result in something else not being sent to Mars. It's a question of priorities. The surface of Mars is hostile to life: low temperatures, high radiation, lack of water. Any life on Mars will most likely be beneath the surface. It's very unlikely that any of the rovers will over turn a rock & there will be microbes on what was the underside of the rock. Also, looking at images produced microscopes would time intensive & not easily automated. There are also band width limitations on the amount of data that can be sent from Mars.  
> **username_0**: Sorry but those arguments are really weak. Nothing is more important than finding life on Mars. Extremophiles live in conditions hostile to life too: temperature, radiation, lack of water. Rovers can drill. There is plenty of bandwidth for a lot of images that were already sent.  

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