The hunt for Martian life focuses on detecting organic molecules that could indicate its past existence. Are our instruments up to the task?
For most of the past half-century, scientists have been trying—and failing—to find life on Mars. Beginning with NASA’s twin Viking landers, which touched down on the Red Planet in 1976, this hunt has focused on discovering possible biosignatures—organic molecules that may indicate life’s past existence.
The trouble is that the threshold for using such derivatization reagents on Mars is exceedingly high. Like any consumable on an interplanetary mission, the reagents are only available in a very limited supply, just enough for a handful of attempts. Curiosity’s SAM only has nine single-use sample cups for derivatization. The ExoMars rover is similarly limited: it can only derivatize 12 samples, says Fred Goesmann, MOMA’s principal investigator.
Besides finding potential flaws with current rover-borne instruments, the Red Stone study also field-tested technologies that presently do not have a rover analogue, with promising results. For example, the team successfully found faint traces of ancient cyanobacteria in Red Stone samples using the Signs of Life Detector, a device that relies on antibodies to detect specific organic compounds.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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