Bacteria could survive underground on Mars for hundreds of millions of years, new study finds

New research suggests that Martian chill could allow bacteria to survive for up to 280 million years below the planet's surface. The finding raises hopes that traces of ancient life — or even viable organisms in suspended animation — could be found on the Red Planet someday. In the study, scientists found that an Earth bacterium, Deinococcus radiodurans, is so resistant to radiation that it can handle the equivalent of 280 million years of the radiation present 33 feet (10 meters) below the Martian surface. The plucky little microorganism, which has been found thriving in nuclear reactors on Earth, could even last 1.5 million years on the Martian surface, which is constantly bombarded with cosmic and solar radiation.