If life on Mars exists, it may be preserved in a frozen time capsule

If life ever existed on Mars, traces of it might still be frozen beneath the planet's icy surface.

A new study from NASA and Penn State University suggests fragments of biomolecules from ancient microbes could survive in Martian ice for tens of millions of years — long enough for future missions to potentially find them, according to a statement from the university.

In laboratory experiments simulating Mars conditions, researchers froze samples of E. coli bacteria in two different environments: pure water ice and a mixture of water and ingredients found in Martian soil, including silicate-based rocks and clay. The samples were cooled to minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 51.1 degrees Celsius) — the temperature of icy regions on Mars — and then exposed to radiation levels equivalent to wh