Journal of Humanity's Future in the Cosmos
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TY - JOUR AU - Jiang, Jonathan H. AU - Du, Guannan AU - Rosen, Philip E. AU - Taylor, Stuart F. AU - Yung, Yuk L. PY - 2025 DA - 2025/12/09 TI - Scientific, Societal, and Spiritual Implications of Finding (or Not Finding) Life on Mars JO - Journal of Humanity's Future in the Cosmos T2 - Journal of Humanity's Future in the Cosmos JF - Journal of Humanity's Future in the Cosmos VL - 1 IS - 1 SP - 4 EP - 14 DO - 10.62762/JHFC.2025.399040 UR - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JHFC.2025.399040 KW - Mars exploration KW - astrobiology KW - biosignatures KW - planetary protection KW - space ethics KW - Rare Earth hypothesis AB - As humanity enters a transformative era of Mars exploration, guided by NASA's Moon-to-Mars roadmap, rapid advances in commercial spaceflight, and the National Academies' Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars (2025), we approach a pivotal moment in the search for extraterrestrial life. Recent in-situ observations from Jezero crater have produced a potential biosignature in fine-grained sediments, while new laboratory studies indicate that relatively pure Martian ice could preserve organic molecules for geologically significant timescales. Together, these developments elevate the near-term stakes: they sharpen targets, raise the bar for planetary protection, and intensify public attention even in the absence of definitive proof. This paper systematically examines the scientific, societal, and spiritual implications of three outcomes: definitive discovery, confirmed absence, or persistent uncertainty. We assess how each pathway would reshape astrobiology and sample-return priorities, recalibrate planetary-protection policies for human missions, and influence international cooperation, ethics, and cultural narratives. Whether Mars ultimately reveals evidence of a second genesis or underscores Earth's exceptional status, the pursuit itself compels deep reflection on our collective identity and responsibilities as planetary stewards, renewing appreciation for life's rarity, resilience, and intrinsic value. SN - pending PB - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge LA - English ER -
@article{Jiang2025Scientific,
author = {Jonathan H. Jiang and Guannan Du and Philip E. Rosen and Stuart F. Taylor and Yuk L. Yung},
title = {Scientific, Societal, and Spiritual Implications of Finding (or Not Finding) Life on Mars},
journal = {Journal of Humanity's Future in the Cosmos},
year = {2025},
volume = {1},
number = {1},
pages = {4-14},
doi = {10.62762/JHFC.2025.399040},
url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JHFC.2025.399040},
abstract = {As humanity enters a transformative era of Mars exploration, guided by NASA's Moon-to-Mars roadmap, rapid advances in commercial spaceflight, and the National Academies' Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars (2025), we approach a pivotal moment in the search for extraterrestrial life. Recent in-situ observations from Jezero crater have produced a potential biosignature in fine-grained sediments, while new laboratory studies indicate that relatively pure Martian ice could preserve organic molecules for geologically significant timescales. Together, these developments elevate the near-term stakes: they sharpen targets, raise the bar for planetary protection, and intensify public attention even in the absence of definitive proof. This paper systematically examines the scientific, societal, and spiritual implications of three outcomes: definitive discovery, confirmed absence, or persistent uncertainty. We assess how each pathway would reshape astrobiology and sample-return priorities, recalibrate planetary-protection policies for human missions, and influence international cooperation, ethics, and cultural narratives. Whether Mars ultimately reveals evidence of a second genesis or underscores Earth's exceptional status, the pursuit itself compels deep reflection on our collective identity and responsibilities as planetary stewards, renewing appreciation for life's rarity, resilience, and intrinsic value.},
keywords = {Mars exploration, astrobiology, biosignatures, planetary protection, space ethics, Rare Earth hypothesis},
issn = {pending},
publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}
Copyright © 2025 by the Author(s). Published by Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. 
Journal of Humanity's Future in the Cosmos
ISSN: pending (Online) | ISSN: pending (Print)
Email: [email protected]
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