Is There Living Green Algae in the Gusev Crater on Mars?

"Certainly like the green in the Gusev crater picture or by looking at the development of darker spots toward the South Pole which are tied to seasonal variations, it certainly gives rise to the speculation that there could be algae."

- Michael McKay, European Space Agency

The center of the Gusev crater with the landing site of the NASA Spirit rover marked with a cross. The image was taken by the HRSC instrument in color and 3-Dimension on January 16, 2004, from a height of 320 kilometers (199 miles). Gusev is a large crater about 160 kilometers in diameter. Scientists believe that the crater was covered by standing water, maybe in the form of a lake, early in the history of Mars. Image by European Space Agency's Mars Express: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum). — The center of the Gusev crater with the landing site of the NASA Spirit rover marked with a cross. The image was taken by the HRSC instrument in color and 3-Dimension on January 16, 2004, from a height of 320 kilometers (199 miles). Gusev is a large crater about 160 kilometers in diameter. Scientists believe that the crater was covered by standing water, maybe in the form of a lake, early in the history of Mars. Image by European Space Agency's **Mars Express**: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum).

January 31, 2004 Darmstadt, Germany - The European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter has been exploring the red planet from 186 miles (300 kilometers) altitude. Its high resolution stereo camera has been sending back extraordinary color images. Some, like the Gusev crater image above, show green areas. Some like the Reull Vallis ancient river channel below show blue and blue-green regions.

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