Methane on Mars Could Signal Alien Life

The Mars Curiosity rover detected a spike of methane on the Red Planet. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS) Is there life on Mars? That eternal question almost seems cliché in space exploration circles, but, nonetheless, we’re still waiting with bated breath for an answer. While it’s not time to exhale just yet, NASA’s Curiosity rover has sniffed out methane in Mars’ atmosphere. And that means that something, whether living or not, is actively creating the gas on Mars.