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NASA actually found life on Mars in 1976, scientist claims

Did NASA actually find life on Mars in 1976 - and we’ve spent four decades (and billions of pounds) ignoring it?

That’s the controversial thrust of a new scientific paper - by one of the scientists behind the Viking lander, which sent back the first pictures taken on the surface of Mars four decades ago.

In 1976, the Viking Lander conducted experiments on Martian soil - which seemed to suggest that something was producing carbon dioxide.

But since then the experiment has been dismissed as ‘inconclusive’.

Now in a new paper, one of the original Viking scientists, Gilbert Levin, says that the experiments may show the existence of life - and it might pose risks for astronauts.

Levin says the results show that ‘life is a strong possibility’, on Mars.

The researchers write, ‘It seems inevitable that astronauts will eventually explore Mars. In the interest of their health and safety, biology should be held in the forefront of possible explanations for the LR results. Plans for any Mars sample return mission should also take into account that such a sample may contain viable, even if dormant, alien life.’