Too much evidenc on the Martian surface points to there having been water. There probably is still a fair amount of water beneath the surface. There must be, otherwise the stuff at the poles would have been lost into space - given the low atmospheric pressure if the ice at the poles was all the water Mars had it would have lost all its water a couple of billion years ago. There must be a huge amount underground. If there is no longer any life there, then it might take a while to find evidence of former life, particularly if it was not "life as we know it". For example, you wouldn't expect Martian life to be based on DNA (unless it had a common origin with Earth life).
And Europa - yeah that could be an even better prospect. I think that idea was first raised in "2010" (the book, not the movie).
Posted on Feb 2, 2004, 5:09 AM from IP address 203.41.111.197