Search for life begins after Mars touchdown

“I had mentally prepared myself for failure, because you can do everything right, but you also need a bit of luck to land successfully on Mars.

“Most missions have failed.”

Perserverance was the third mission to reach Mars’ orbit in the past week, following missions from China and the United Arab Emirates.

Professor Flannery said he was “not confident at all” the mission would find signs of life.

“It really is an open question … whether life evolved elsewhere in our solar system,” he said.

“This is probably the best chance in my lifetime to address that question because we have travelled to an environment that seems as though it is the sort of place life would exist.”

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If signs of life are found, “it might mean…