Should Mars hold empirical evidence that indeed it contained life would it intrigue humanity to further explore space more as a collective?

Sometimes I wonder if somewhere out there there is life that looks or needs none of the things we humans need to live. And these scientists are assuming there is only a chance of life if the place they are looking at at the time is also a place that we could survive?

No, not a world wide movement. I think there’d be a lot more discussion of what the conditions were, if it was similarities to Earth that fostered life, or was it despite the differences.

And it would depend on what the evidence told us – a virus like life? Bacteria? Or just a protein? Some of what scientists might call “life” might be some of the building blocks of life. But having building blocks doesn’t give you the Eiffel Tower.

If there’s life on Mars, I’m sure the Catholic church will want to get there as quickly as possible. After all, those things are paying their tithes.

Seriously, if there’s evidence of even rudimentary life on Mars, then yes, we need to study it.

Science for science’s sake.

I sincerely hope so and the more federated and science-driven the better. However mankind’s collective indolence mixed with the narcissism and altruistic indifference of the aristocracy never cease to disillusion me.

It’s way too expensive. It would only become popular if large economic returns could be made from it.

It would depend on the kind of life that’s there, if any. If it’s evolved enough to have a chat with us human beings, the whole world would at least initially, no doubt be intrigued. If it’s in it’s early biomolecular stages, scientists would be intrigued to no end. A cancer killing Martian cellular organism? The drug industry would have a field day.

That could even pave the way for private business funded explorations.

Finding life on another planet – even humble microbes in fossilized form – would be the greatest discovery of our time. Our view of ourselves and our place in the cosmos would be forever changed. Major upheavals in culture, politics, and science would follow. It represents a total game-changer, a singularity in the course of humanity.

You guys are being way too casual about it, I think.

But I’m not holding my breath. Viking found no evidence of life in the late 1970s, and recent rover cameras didn’t show us anything that looked living or previously living.

Unfortunately some people can not comprehend the need for Science. They do not understand that are progress comes from research and exploration. It always has.

I hope we don’t try to do it collectively. One of the reasons the space race in the 60s produced such rapid advances is that there were competing programs from USA and USSR. Trying to get there first spurred advances on both sides.

If there was only one collective space program in the world, it would probably function as well as the United Nations peacekeeping forces.

It rather depends on whether we move beyond wars and greed. Both would save an enormous amount of money making serious space exploration possible.