Final answer:
Mass extinctions on Earth due to large impacts can disrupt the ecological balance of the planet. Likewise, it is possible that a huge impact on Mars could have prematurely extinguished any potential life on the planet.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mass extinctions on Earth due to large impacts have been known to disrupt the ecological balance of the entire planet. It is possible that Mars also experienced large impacts that could have prematurely extinguished any potential life on the planet. These impacts could have stripped Mars of its atmosphere and boiled away its oceans.
Impacts by cosmic debris can cause significant damage and have global consequences, affecting the course of evolution. Earth has also been influenced by such impacts, including the one that wiped out most terrestrial life 65 million years ago. Therefore, it is plausible that life on Mars may have been extinguished prematurely by a huge impact.
Future missions and studies aim to determine whether there is evidence of ancient life on Mars through the analysis of martian samples. Scientists are interested in understanding how martian life, if it existed, compared to life on Earth.