[Brett66]

I think it would be more honest for NASA to say "yes this could be life, but we can't say definitively until we send another probe specifically designed to get the proof that we need."

[RayChuang88]

I think it would be more honest for NASA to say "yes this could be life, but we can't say definitively until we send another probe specifically designed to get the proof that we need."

If they say something like that we may get funding to launch a large number of spacecraft on the planet via the Phoenix and Mars Science Laboratory programs, if only to search as much of the planet as possible for past and current lifeforms. And these new landers may use Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) units so they can operate for over a year without worries about dust collecting on the solar panels.