President Clinton, NASA Administration Daniel Goldin, and NSF Director Neal Lane issued statements following this week's announcement of possible early Martian life. Their statements describe the importance of federal funding for science, as well as indications about the future direction of research:
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON:
"I'm glad to be joined by my science and technology adviser, Dr. Jack Gibbons, to make a few comments about today's announcement by NASA.
"This is the product of years of exploration and months of intensive study by some of the world's most distinguished scientists. Like all discoveries, this one will and should continue to be reviewed, examined and scrutinized. It must be confirmed by other scientists. But clearly, the fact that something of this magnitude is being explored is another vindication of America's space program and our continuing support for it, even in these tough financial times. I am determined that the American space program will put its full intellectual power and technological prowess behind the search for further evidence of life on Mars.
"First, I have asked Administrator Goldin to ensure that this finding is subject to a methodical process of further peer review and validation. Second, I have asked the Vice President to convene at the White House before the end of the year a bipartisan space summit on the future of America's space program. A significant purpose of this summit will be to discuss how America should pursue answers to the scientific questions raised by this finding. Third, we are committed to the aggressive plan we have put in place for robotic exploration of Mars. America's next unmanned mission to Mars is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in November. It will be followed by a second mission in December. I should tell you that the first mission is scheduled to land on Mars on July the 4th, 1997 -- Independence Day.
"It is well worth contemplating how we reached this moment of discovery. More than 4 billion years ago this piece of rock was formed as a part of the original crust of Mars. After billions of years it broke from the surface and began a 16 million year journey through space that would end here on Earth. It arrived in a meteor shower 13,000 years ago. And in 1984 an American scientist on an annual U.S. government mission to search for meteors on Antarctica picked it up and took it to be studied. Appropriately, it was the first rock to be picked up that year -- rock number 84001.
"Today, rock 84001 speaks to us across all those billions of years and millions of miles. It speaks of the possibility of life. If this discovery is confirmed, it will surely be one of the most stunning insights into our universe that science has ever uncovered. Its implications are as far-reaching and awe-inspiring as can be imagined. Even as it promises answers to some of our oldest questions, it poses still others even more fundamental.
"We will continue to listen closely to what it has to say as we continue the search for answers and for knowledge that is as old as humanity itself but essential to our people's future."
NASA ADMINISTRATOR DANIEL GOLDIN:
"NASA has made a startling discovery that points to the possibility that a primitive form of microscopic life may have existed on Mars more than three billion years ago. The research is based on a sophisticated examination of an ancient Martian meteorite that landed on Earth some 13,000 years ago.
"The evidence is exciting, even compelling, but not conclusive. It is a discovery that demands further scientific investigation. NASA is ready to assist the process of rigorous scientific investigation and lively scientific debate that will follow this discovery.
"I want everyone to understand that we are not talking about 'little green men.' These are extremely small, single-cell structures that somewhat resemble bacteria on Earth. There is no evidence or suggestion that any higher life form ever existed on Mars.
"The NASA scientists and researchers who made this discovery will be available at a news conference tomorrow to discuss their findings. They will outline the step-by-step "detective story" that explains how the meteorite arrived here from Mars, and how they set about looking for evidence of long-ago life in this ancient rock. They will also release some fascinating images documenting their research."
NSF DIRECTOR NEAL LANE:
"Today's announcement of scientific evidence for possible early life on Mars reignites the excitement of discovery and pioneering spirit which motivates all science, and reinforces the need to continue our national investment in scientific research.
"The 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite which offers this unprecedented potential for new scientific knowledge was found in Antarctica during an ongoing National Science Foundation research project. It is ironic that we found signposts to possible life outside of earth by searching in the most remote location on earth. Antarctica is `the mother lode' of meteorites, and has yielded more than 16,000 meteorites so far -- close to one-half of the world's scientific samples. The annual hunt for Antarctic meteorites is like a bargain-priced space mission that lets scientists explore extraterrestrial worlds without leaving their home planet. Occasionally one of the samples evolves into a treasure of new knowledge that reveals itself slowly and gradually, through scientific scrutiny. In the case of the meteorite discussed today, it was only by using the most recent and advanced scientific equipment that researchers were able to begin to unlock its mysteries. The NSF-funded science team which discovered the meteorite -- led by researchers Bill Cassidy and John Schutt of the University of Pittsburgh -- were not even focused on the implications of organic life on other planets when they plucked the now-famous space rock from the frozen continent in 1984.
"In spite of the many impressive scientific advances that seem to occur at an ever faster pace, there is still so much we don't know about our universe and the life it holds. The results announced today are not definitive, as the research team itself points out. Rigorous science will continue to unfold the nature and origins of life, whether on earth or elsewhere in the universe.
"We live in a golden age of science, which we hope will continue to unlock the secrets of the unknown for the benefit of all humankind."
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