Cheap test for life on Mars

What about sending some kind of bacterial culture medium, sterilized
and sealed prior to launch
to open when the probe touched down? They could then wait until
something "grew" and analyzed it to see if any evidence of bacteria
cropped up? They could even visually inspect the culture medium
instead of just doing less than certain chemical tests. It could be
done so the sample wasn't exposed to the night-day temp extreme but
was exposed to the atmosphere.
They could even dig up some earth for culturing, in case the bacteria
was dormant in the soil.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Cheap test for life on Mars
    ... and sealed prior to launch to open when the probe touched down? ... How would one choose an appropriate culture medium? ... Just put some SNICKERS bars up there... ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Cheap test for life on Mars
    ... and sealed prior to launch to open when the probe touched down? ... How would one choose an appropriate culture medium? ... It's reasonably safe to assume microbes on Mars would be similar to ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)