[Falcon4.0]

I made the same comment back in 1976 when the Mars Viking Lander's instruments
detected evidence of life and then it was dismissed as a possible anomaly.
You would think a microscope would be as least the second instrument you would select.

[mvpel]

You would think a microscope would be as least the second instrument you would select.

You have to have a lightweight microscope capable of surviving launch atop a huge pile of high explosives, nearly a year in the searing radiation of deep space, and a scorching descent through Mars' atmosphere. And all that before having to send back images across a little radio antenna to a receiver that's between 35 and 250 million miles away. Just on the off chance that you'd see something more interesting than a tiny grain of dust.

[jboot]

IMO the Viking results were rejected too quickly, probably to save face after the initial hubbub. There is still no consensus as to what chemical reactions could have produced the exact results recorded. There was only so much analysis possible with the limited data obtained. But contrary to what we have been told, Viking's Martian microbes were never completely ruled out, but were set aside in light of the unexpected soil chemistry and its poorly understood effect on the instruments.

Perhaps Curiousity will finally settle the matter. But I doubt it. Nothing short of a sample return mission will suffice to remove all doubt.