New Life Found on an Old Rock

How a humble meteorite redefined the future of astrobiology.

By Elise Cutts
Feb 18, 2023 6:00 AM
DSC-OT0323 1
Discovered in 1984, the Mars rock known as ALH84001 was eventually found to contain carbonates — a possible sign of life once existing on another world. The press went wild and ALH84001 became a literal rock star (Credit: NASA).

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In 1995, NASA was strapped for cash — and the search for life beyond Earth looked like it could be in trouble.

Years of steep cuts had reduced the space agency’s five-year budget plan by just over 30 percent. Interest in exobiology — the study of the origins, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe — had been drying up for decades. After the 1976 Viking lander’s life-seeking experiment on Mars came up empty, NASA cut down on Mars missions. Congress canceled NASA’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program in 1993, after less than a year of operation. And in 1995, the Clinton administration called for more than $5 billion in additional reductions to NASA funding before the new millennium.

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