Not an astrobiologist, but am a microbiologist. IMO microscopes wouldn't be very definitive. I'd suspect they have some magnification capabilities to some exte

Not an astrobiologist, but am a microbiologist. IMO microscopes wouldn't be very definitive. I'd suspect they have some magnification capabilities to some extent, even for geology analysis, For microbial life, getting chemical signatures would be much more valuable. They appear to have a mass spec. GC and laser spectrometer suite that can do some of that usefully. https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/spacecraft/instruments/sam/ https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/spacecraft/instruments/sam/ IMO, the idea of NASA sandbagging on finding life is silly. It's like Pharma hiding the cure for cancer. there are real people in those organizations and that type of insanity wouldn't stay secret for long. (note to anyone replying I will not discuss/argue this stuff on this board, as it won't go anywhere productively.)