3 sites for life on Mars hunt

THE US Mars mission in 2020 has cut the number of possible landing sites to three in its search for evidence of past alien life.

A rover will seek chemical relics of bugs and also seal 30-40 rock samples in titanium tubes for retrieval by a future mission.

Nasa scientist Dr Ken Williford said: “Our objective is to collect samples with the best potential to preserve records of the evolution of Mars.

“That includes the presence of life if it was there.”