New Research Casts Doubt on Rover’s Ability To Find Life on Mars

According to new research published in Nature Communications, existing Mars rovers may not be capable of detecting life on the planet's surface.

In the Atacama Desert, where conditions are nearly similar to the Martian landscape, Armando Azua-Bustos and his team from the Center for Astrobiology in Madrid tested the current instruments used by NASA's Curiosity and Perseverance rovers.

They found that organic molecules such as lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins, which could indicate the presence of life, were challenging to identify with the equipment.

Study Proves Current Mars Equipment Inadequate

The scientists found the Red Stone rock formation, which contains tiny life forms. These microorganisms are difficult to detect and identify because they are distinguishable from those experts are familiar with, leaving only very faint traces of their existence.

They discovered that the mineral composition of Red Stone is similar to that of Mars, but it is extremely difficult to detect any signs of life using current instruments. This means that scientists need to bring Mars samples back to Earth to study them more closely and determine whether or not there was ever life on Mars.

In short, the study suggests that the sensitivity of the rovers' equipment is insufficient to detect any possible traces of life on Mars.

Looking for Signs of Life is Complex

Meanwhile, extreme environment microbiologists like Professor Belinda Ferrari, who work in the Dry Valleys and Windmill Islands of Antarctica, which are cold and arid deserts, have found signs of life using highly sensitive laboratory techniques like gene sequencing and microscopic analysis.

Prof. Ferrari suggests that the discovery of atmospheric chemosynthesis, which was first discovered in the cold desert soils of Antarctica, is a promising ecological model for the search for Martian life.

Bacteria consume trace levels of hydrogen and carbon monoxide gas from the atmosphere in this underexplored metabolic process. In the absence of water, the byproduct of this process is a potential source of energy and metabolic water for dry desert microbiomes.

The harsh conditions of Mars, which make it difficult for organisms to survive, complicate the search for life.

Most organisms on Earth harness energy from sunlight through photosynthesis, but this process requires water, which is almost absent in desert environments such as Antarctica and the Atacama Desert.

Developing more sensitive laboratory techniques, such as next-generation sequencing, could aid in identifying previously undetected microbial life.

The Search for Evidence of Life

The Conversation tells us that the search for signs of life on Mars will be the focus of future expeditions to the red planet, such as the Icebreaker Life mission scheduled to launch in 2026.

If the Icebreaker Life mission finds signs of life in the ice-cemented ground, analogous to dry permafrost in Antarctica, then a Mars Sample Return mission would be a high priority.

However, bringing samples back to Earth for analysis poses a danger due to the potential for contamination, the need to maintain cold temperatures during transport, and the requirement for specialized quarantine laboratories.

Azua-Bustos suggest that bringing samples to Earth for in-depth laboratory analysis may be the only sure way to detect the presence of life on Mars.

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