Detecting signs of life on Mars may be easy, study says

Since December 1996, when NASA sent its first rover, Sojourner, to Mars, and even after sending five more robotic rovers, one question has remained unanswered: Would life be possible on Mars? Can any trace of these biological forms be detected as a biosignature in such a hostile environment?

Recently, academic research published in the American Astronomical Society journal Research Notes of the AAS tested the limits of detection of these biosignatures, printing them through mixtures of calcium sulfate (gypsum) with cyanobacterial microbial mat taken into a simulated Mars scenario.

Secondary school students from St Bernard’s Convent High School in Westcliff-On-Sea, England, helped scientists from the Natural History Museum and University College London carry out an experiment To test whether potential ancient life has left evidence at sites on the Red Planet.

How researchers simulated life and environment on Mars

To simulate potential Martian biosignatures, the team had to solve two problems: finding a simulacrum of Martian life and recreating conditions on the planet. The challenge of life on Mars was met by microbial mats, communities of microorganisms that thrive in aquatic environments. They are being studied by co-author Louisa Preston at the Natural History Museum in London.

I solved the problem of life the challenge was to simulate conditions on Mars. To do this, the team has been working with a company called Thales Alenia Space since 2014. It launches meteorological balloons that carry school scientific experiments to altitudes exceeding 30 kilometers, where temperatures drop to -50°C and pressure is 1/100 of that on Earth.

Inside the balloon, students placed plaster balls containing microbial mat samples into plastic containers. Half remained on Earth for control purposes, the others were taken into space by balloon and then returned to Earth by parachute.

Analysis of life forms from space

After returning to Earth, samples were scanned using infrared spectroscopy techniqueOne can identify the composition of each by observing how they absorb this radiation.

In the case of control samples, the researchers found that higher levels of gypsum in the mixture masked biosignatures in the microbial mat. However, the results were different in the samples sent into space: High altitude dried the plaster, causing some aspects of the carpet to be highlighted in the analysis.

“Exposure to the simulated stratospheric environment of Mars for even relatively short periods of time can cause partial dehydration of the sample and highlight spectral fingerprints of important biosignatures,” the study concluded. This means Mars rovers equipped with infrared spectrometers will be able to detect biological signatures even if they are preserved in calcium sulfate.

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