Los Alamos Releases New Maps of Mars Water - July 24, 2003
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/newsroom/pressreleases/20030724a.html
New maps on the amount of hydrogen on the Mars surface by the Los Alamos' neutron spectrometer which has been mapping the Martian surface for over a year.

Water: The Molecule of Life - May 7, 2003
http://www.astrobio.net/news/article453.html

Found it! Ice on Mars - May 28, 2002
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/28may_marsice.htm?list540155
Using instruments on NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft scientists have found abundant quantities of water ice just below the surface of Mars.

Odyssey Finds Water Ice in Abundance Under Mars' Surface - May 28, 2002
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/newsroom/pressreleases/20020528a.html
NASA press release on the discovery of abundant water ice found under the surface of Mars. An interview with Phillip Ball about his thoughts on the role of liquid water for life on Earth and on other worlds.

Water on Mars - April 19, 2002
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2002/news-marswater.asp
A short summary of what water on Mars. There is a student version of this article.

Water on Mars - April 19, 2002
http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2002/news-marswater.asp
The student version of which summarizes water on Mars.

Once Upon a Water Planet - March 12, 2002
http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/12mar_waterplanet.htm
Images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on board NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have shown that gulleys on the surface of Mars look as if they formed much more recently than once thought and that Mars could be going through massive short term climate changes where water could come and go.

New Signs of Water on Mars Create Hope of Great Discovery - December 14, 2001
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/odyssey_hydrogen_011214.html
While testing its instruments before beginning its mapping mission NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft found evidence of water below the surface in the warmer regions of Mars.

Analyses show water stayed on Mars longer than previously thought - November 26, 2001
http://news-info.wustl.edu/News/nrindex00/mars.html
Using data returned from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission indicates the presence of small gullies at high latitudes on Mars that were formed in the very recent past and may still be active today.

Scientists Find Largest Flood Channels in the Solar System - August 1, 2001
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-01k.html
Observations made with Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on the Mars Global Surveyor

The Case of the Missing Mars Water - January 5, 2001
http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast05jan_1.htm
It would have taken giant floods that perhaps reached discharge rates as high as 10,000 times that at which the Mississippi, when flooded pours into the Gulf of Mexico to carve the massive outflow channels on Mars. What happened to that water?

Making a Splash on Mars - June 29, 2000
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast29jun%5F1m.htm
This issue of Science@NASA looks at whether water could exist in the liquid form on Mars.

MOC Images Suggest Recent Sources of Liquid Water on Mars - June 22, 2000
http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/june2000/
Images from the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera showing the possibility of water on Mars.

Mars Surprise - June 22, 2000
http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22jun_2.htm?list
High resolution images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft reveal features that suggest current sources of liquid water at or near the surface of the red planet.

ALH84001: evidence for ancient life on Mars?

Researchers Publish Latest Results in Continuing Search for Ancient Martian Life - August 9, 2002
http://www.astrobio.net/news/print.php?sid=250
Published in 2002 these are the results of research on the ALH84001 meteorite.

On the Question of the Mars Meteorite
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi/meteorites/mars_meteorite.html
A collection of thoughts and papers that have been presented on Mars meteorite ALH84001.

ALH84001
http://www-curator.jsc.nasa.gov/curator/antmet/marsmets/alh84001/sample.htm
Johnson's Space Center's website on ALH84001.

Fossil Life in ALH 84001?
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi/meteorites/life.html
Summary of the original science paper by Dr. David McKay and his co-workers wrote on ALH84001.

Meteorite Yields Evidence of Primitive Life on Early Mars
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/text/mars_life.txt
NASA press release on Mars meteorite ALH84001.

ALH84001 - The Life on Mars meteorite
http://www.marsnews.com/focus/life/
A look at Mars meteorite ALH84001 and the Viking Biology Experiments with links to more articles.

Search for Life

Determine if Life Ever Arose On Mars
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/science/life/index.html
NASA has four science goals for their Mars Exploration program. The first goal is to determine if life ever arose on Mars. This explains that goal.

NASA Origin's Program
http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/
NASA's Origin's Program goal is to to discover which extrasolar planets might be conducive for life, and to detect actual evidence for life on one or more of those planets.

SETI Institute
http://www.seti-inst.edu/
The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe.

Environments for Life on Europa - August 7, 2003
http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_phillips_europa_030807.html
Cynthia Phillips and Chris Chyba are using Galileo data to investigate potential environments for life on Europa.

Looking for Life of Any Shape or Form - May 1, 2003
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/express/newsroom/pressreleases/20030501a.html
A press release on the European Space Agency's search for life in the universe.

Finding Life
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/science/finding_life.html
Terrestrial Planet Finder's (TPF) mission is to look for Earth-like planets and then to see if they harbor life. This article explains how to search for life.

Viking: the Search for Life
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/mars/viking.html
In 1976 the Viking 1 and 2 landers undertook searches on the Martian surface for the chemical evidence of present or past life on Mars.

Life on Mars
http://www.msss.com/http/ps/life/life.html
More on the Viking Biology Experiments and the search for life on Mars. NOTE: This was written in 1995 before the discovery of ALH84001 and the debate about whether the meteorite actually contains evidence of life.

Life in Extreme Environments

A New Form of Life - July 30, 2003
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/30jul_monolake.htm?list554890
Once water flows into Mono Lake, actually a volcanic basin, the only way out is through evaporation which leaves minerals and salts behind. Yet even though the water is now nearly pure lye and twice as salty as seawater microorganisms such as diatoms, cyanobacteria and algae have still been found there.

NASA scientist discovers new species of organism in Mars-like environment - July 30, 2003
http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/NSSTC/news/releases/2003/N03-007.html
The NASA press release on Mono Lake.

The Edge of Life - June 9, 2003
http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=490
The first of a series of articles on a research project, Life in the Atacama, which is looking at life in Chile's Atacama desert and how the project could guide the search for life on Mars.