Mars is our closest planetary neighbor, yet our knowledge of it is limited. Researchers think it offers the best possibility for finding life in our solar-system beyond Earth. Different locations on Earth allow researchers the chance to build hypotheses and test equipment as the search for life on Mars proceeds.

Microbes Live In a Harsh Desert

Here on Earth, join researchers on a journey through the Atacama Desert in Chile. This desert offers scientists some of the most extreme surface conditions available on Earth and lets them simulate scenarios for sending instruments like robots to Mars. A brief video introduces visitors to some of the research, and a collection of interactive kiosks present some of the tools used for study.

Touch a Mars Rock

Welcome to Mars! Sort of... At this kiosk, NySci visitors can run their hands over a small fragment of a meteorite that blasted off the surface of Mars millions of years ago, eventually making it here to Earth. How do we know it is from Mars? The gases trapped inside this rock match readings taken by our first traveler to Mars, the Viking spacecraft, in the 1970's.

Which World Is Colder?

Despite being mostly desert, Mars is very, very cold, from one pole to another. This station invites visitors to touch scale models of hemispheres from Earth and from Mars and feel the difference in temperature between the poles and the equators of each planet. Visitors can trace their hand along Earth's northern hemisphere, from the polar ice sheet, through the continents, onto the equator and feel the change from cold to warm. Mars offers no relief from cold, however, during the travel from northern ice caps to its equator.

Send a Rover All Over

Humans have not stepped on Mars. But researchers are constantly collecting new data about the planet thanks to the work of robots- including the Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Control a Rover by uploading a series of drive commands to our little robots, navigating around treacherous rocks. Just like NASA researchers, use the wireless video feed and infrared filter to look past the visible and find traces of water that may have long ago been on the Martian surface.

Microbes Live Down Deep

Join miners here on Earth and travel 2 miles down the East Driefontein gold mine in South Africa to find caves teaming with microbial life. The depth and heat of the mines make this an unlikely place to find life, yet microbes abound everywhere. A brief video presentation guides visitors through the search for life in a mine, and a series of graphics and interactive stations demonstrate the steps researchers take to study the life in extremes like the mine.

Sterile Sample Collection

When scientists collect samples from fissures in mine walls, they take careful steps to make sure their testing equipment is already microbe free. If not, the sample might be useless. At this station, we invite visitors to try their hand at collecting a clean sample by removing a tube from a crack in a cave wall with tongs. Just don't touch the sides!

Microbes Live In Boiling Mud

On Earth, join scientists as they describe working in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, where the boiling hot spring geysers create what would seem like threatening conditions for life. In truth, microbial life thrives here, living in the boiling mud created by the springs. A video and various text panels introduce the research and the environment. A series of interactive kiosks let you, literally, smell life in boiling mud.

Smell the Mud

Life does not always smell "good." Visitors can squeeze a series of containers that will release odors into the air. Different living microbes create different odors when living in mud, which is one way researchers can identify places they want to study. Just like food, mud can offer many different smells. 

Microbes Live In a River of Acid

Here on Earth, travel to one of the most extreme natural environments you can imagine- the Rio Tinto ("tinted river") in&mnsp;Spain. This is not something you would want to swim in, however, as it is really a naturally flowing river of acid. It is so powerful that it can dissolve iron. A human stands no chance. And yet, microbes call this very place home, thriving like life anywhere else.

Observe Rio Tinto Microbes

Visitors can look through a Wentzscope© to get an up close view of the microbes that manage to survive in this extreme environment. Sure, they do not look so tough, but their ability to survive is a key for researchers looking for ways to compare life on Earth to possible life on Mars. Also available is a sample from the Rio Tinto showing viewers just how red the river is. The deep color comes from its iron-rich makeup.

Microbes Live In the Deep Sea

Scientists and researchers have managed map most of the Earth's surface that extends above ocean level. But there is still much of the deep seas that have not been visited or charted. We do know that it is dark and cold, and the water pressure and lack of oxygen would quickly thwart human life. But researchers are constantly amazed by the presence of so many complex life forms living so deep.

Step Aboard the Alvin

Visitors can step inside a replica of the Alvin deep sea vehicle. Since the late 1960s, a series of vehicles bearing the Alvin name have traveled many miles of ocean floor, studying deep sea vents, sea creatures, and even the wreckage of the Titanic. Visitors can manipulate an arm used to move rocks and collect samples, and try out the various control panels.

Deep Sea Vents

In 1977, an Alvin dive team discovered amazing vents more than 2000 meters deep. These "Black Smokers" emitted a thick stream of black smoke that reaches temperatures of 750°F and has an acid level too high to sustain most life. The team also found life able to survive and flourish in this environment, including different microbes, and crabs that feed off of them.

Visitors can see an actual fragment from one of these vents on display here, and watch video from an actual dive to these vents in the Alvin theater.

< Back to Search for Life