MELBOURNE -- At the annual Australian Mars Exploration Conference (AMEC) in Melbourne last weekend, Australian researchers outlined some exciting projects designed to help with the exploration of Mars in coming decades, which coincided with National Science Week

The conference, organized by the Mars Society of Australia (MSA), brought together specialists in geology, astrobiology, microbiology, robotics, vehicle design and Antarctic research to discuss exploration of Mars with space enthusiasts.

Water on Mars?

On June 20, 2000 SPACE.com reported that NASA had found evidence of water on Mars. The tremendous discovery has fueled hope for microbial life on the Red Planet. It also makes a human mission to Mars more practical. For SPACE.com's special report, CLICK HERE.

Although Australia is not planning any missions to Mars, its researchers are keen to help other countries with the design of their missions. The conference came just days after NASA chief Dan Goldin announced that a human mission to Mars was likely within 20 years.

Walter said that although there might not be any active hydrothermal vents on Mars, ancient or dormant ones could have fossil evidence of life. He is currently studying a region of the Flinders mountain range in South Australia that used to be a huge hydrothermal system. His techniques for searching for fossil evidence of life could well be repeated on Mars within a few decades.

Walter was enthusiastic about a new Australian invention, the PIMA spectrometer, for determining the mineral content of rocks -- a very important clue to their history. He said this was a great breakthrough for planetary exploration because the instrument was far superior to the one fitted to the Sojourner rover that landed with the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft in 1997.

During a panel discussion Malcolm Walter was asked at what stage would he be prepared to declare Mars dead. He said that if we go to Mars and find an ancient, active hydrothermal system and there were no signs of life then the chances of finding life on Mars would be "pretty bleak."

Dr. Philippa Uwins from Queensland University gave a gripping update on her pioneering work on nanobes. Four years ago she reported that she had found tiny organisms within a rock sample drilled from 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) underground. Many scientists thought that "life" could not be so small but the latest research has strengthened her claim that nanobes are alive. Snapshots of nanobes pushing apart layers of mineral crystals and a video of larger versions of the nanobes in motion fascinated the audience at the conference.

Uwins' work may support claims by some U.S. scientists that the controversial features in Martian meteorite ALH84001 are fossilized life forms. Those claims can no longer be dismissed on the basis that the objects are too small to have been alive.

It seems that searchers for life on Mars will need to be equipped with devices that can detect organisms as small as nanobes.