Scientists are finding more and more reasons to believe that Mars may have once had life forms. The discovery that water was once on Mars has strengthened that case. And the possibility that there is life right now on the red planet is also gaining traction among scientists.

"I contend that today you could take a great many Earth microorganisms, put them on Mars, and they’d grow," Gilbert Levin, executive officer for science at Spherix Incorporated said to Space.com. "And I think there are organisms there now. They may have come from Earth. They may have originated on Mars. They may have come from a third place that populated both Mars and Earth," he said.

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and the last rocky planet before encountering the gas planets in the outer solar system. Only Earth and Mars lie in the "Goldilocks" zone, where it is neither too hot nor too cold for life as we know it to exist, according to NASA.

Another recent discovery on Mars that leads scientists to think about the potential for life is the presence of methane. If, as calculations suggest, asteroids and comets are not likely to be delivering methane to Mars, then either methane-making organisms must be living in the subsurface, or there is a place where it's warm enough for a biogenic generation.

"Prior to last year, when people asked if I thought there was life on Mars, I would giggle. I would not be in the business if I did not think that it was possible, but there was no real evidence for any life. Then, all of a sudden, last year, they found methane in the atmosphere, and we suddenly have a piece of real scientific evidence saying that it's possible [that Mars is the second living planet]," Timothy Kral of the University of Arkansas told Red Nova.com.

NASA's latest launch sent a $720 million Atlas V shuttle to Mars to examine the history and distribution of the water and also to search for possible landing sites for future manned trips. The orbiter will also test the potential for landing sites in future missions. The orbiter will reach Mars on March 10, 2006.

Will a manned mission to Mars find life? And if so, even in bacterial form, what philosophical, religious and scientific boundaries will it radically change? Stay tuned to find out.

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