There is no life on Mars that we have been able to detect so far. But the red planet could be about to look a lot more like Earth, with a swarm of robotic bees sent to buzz through its atmosphere. Space agency NASA has funded an unusual project to create'Marsbees', which are the size of bumblebees with enormous wings, equipped to take samples from the planet. An artist's impression issued by the European Space Agency of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter in front of the red planet The inventor of the'Marsbee', Dr Chang-kwon Kang from the University of Alabama, believes they have sufficient lift to hover in the Martian atmosphere, which is around 100 times thinner than the Earth's. His report on the bees states: 'Marsbees are robotic flapping wing-flyers of a bumblebee size with cicada-sized wings.