How long could microbes survive on Mars underground?
Has anyone done any studies/tests to see if a colony of microbes
could survive and reproduce for the several billion years they would
need to carry on from the estimated time when life on Mars would
have had to go underground to keep living?
The date for this is assumed to be the Late Heavy Bombardment
period about 3.9 billion years ago.
I am glad to see that we keep finding hardy microbes that can live
in harsh conditions such as miles under the surface of Earth, but
technically they can be replenished by life from above. I presume
that Mars does not offer the same advantage any more, so I am
wondering if anyone has conducted any kind of simulation or other
method to find out if microbes could survive that long?