Sources tell Spaceflight Now that the more detailed data on magnetite crystals and carbonate discs now available largely counter a wide range of opposing theories as to why the finding should not be supported as biological in origin.
Now, 13 years after the Martian meteorite life story emerged, the science team finally feels vindicated. Their data shows the meteorite is no smoking gun but is full of evidence that supports the existence of life on the surface of Mars, or in subsurface water pools, early in the planet's history.
The new data are expected to be addressed publicly within days by NASA Headquarters in Washington, where they could become part of the political debate on future NASA mission directions.
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Although led by a Johnson Space Center team, the additional evidence for Martian life in the Allen Hills meteorite has been an open topic for the last several weeks in astrobiology division halls at the NASA Ames Research Center near San Francisco and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena. It's hot news.
The new work centers on so-called magnetic bacteria that on Earth, and apparently Mars as well, leave distinctively-shaped remnants in the rock. In addition the features test with a high chemical purity more like a biological feature than geological.
These are just like the magnetite-related life forms found in the meteorite believed to represent Martian life forms, says Dr. Dennis Bazylinski, who peer reviewed the new findings. He also studies such Earth life forms in his laboratory at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
Joe in Texas