Narrator: This is Science Today. Recent images of dust storms on
Mars are helping astronomers study its changing surface and
weather conditions and prepare for NASA's mission to send rovers
to explore the planet's surface in 2004. Meanwhile, biochemist
Mark Thiemens of the University of California, San Diego has
developed a way to chemically interpret the make-up of Martian
meteorites. This can help scientists unravel the history of the
red planet - including signs of past life. Thiemens: The
meteorites we get and analyze have come from different times in
Martian history, so by looking at those, one has sort of a
snapshot of what happened over time in the Martian atmosphere.
Narrator: Thiemens says the Mars exploration rovers will provide
researchers with new samples. Thiemens: We can certainly
continue in analysis of other of these Martian meteorites that
come from different times, but we really need return samples -
carefully controlled and from areas where you might really get
at the information you need.