Search for organic molecules at the Mars surface: The “Martian Organic Material Irradiation and Evolution” (MOMIE) project

The life on Mars remains an open question because of the lack of proof of its past emergence and its current presence. The only indices of a potential Martian life were provided by the Viking Landers, and the study of the Martian meteorite ALH84001 discovered in the Antarctic. In the two case, the results of experiments could be explained either by the presence of life forms or by abiotic processes. The recent data of Mars Express orbiter and Mars Exploration Rovers show different proofs of a past environment favourable for life. Among the targets we seek, the organic molecules are primordial because they are necessary to the origin of life. A key question is to know if they are present, in which concentration and under which form. Within the framework of a search for organic, we are developing an experimental setup simulating as close as possible the environmental conditions of Mars surface in order to determine how organic species evolve. We present here the first step of the development of this experiment which focuses on the study of the impact of the solar UV radiations reaching the Mars surface on glycine. First results show that glycine does not resist if directly exposed to UV radiations.     

Biological nitrogen fixation under primordial Martian partial pressures of dinitrogen.

Early Earth and early Mars were similar enough such that past geochemical and climatic conditions on Mars may have also been favorable for the origin of life. However, one of the most striking differences between the two planets was the low partial pressure of dinitrogen (pN2) on early Mars (18 mb). On Earth, nitrogen is a key biological element and in many ecosystems the low availability of fixed nitrogen compounds is the main factor limiting growth. Biological fixation of dinitrogen on Earth is a crucial source of fixed nitrogen. Could the low availability of dinitrogen in the primordial Martian atmosphere have prevented the existence, or evolution of Martian microbiota? Azotobacter vinelandii and Azomonas agilis were grown in nitrogen free synthetic medium under various partial pressures of dinitrogen ranging from 780-0 mb (total atmosphere=1 bar). Below 400 mb the biomass, cell number, and growth rate decreased with decreasing pN2. Both microorganisms were capable of growth at a pN2 as low as 5 mb, but no growth was observed at a pN2 < or = 1 mb. The data appear to indicate that biological nitrogen fixation could have occurred on primordial Mars (pN2=18 mb) making it possible for a biotic system to have played a role in the Martian nitrogen cycle. It is possible that nitrogen may have played a key role in the early evolution of life on Mars, and that later a lack of available nitrogen on that planet (currently, pN2=0.2 mb) may have been involved in its subsequent extinction.     

Planetary protection program for Mars 94/96 mission.

Mars surface in-situ exploration started in 1975 with the American VIKING mission. Two probes landed on the northern hemisphere and provided, for the first time, detailed information on the martian terrain, atmosphere and meteorology. The current goal is to undertake larger surface investigations and many projects are being planned by the major Space Agencies with this objective. Among these projects, the Mars 94/96 mission will make a major contributor toward generating significant information about the martian surface on a large scale. Since the beginning of the Solar System exploration, planets where life could exist have been subject to planetary protection requirements. Those requirements accord with the COSPAR Policy and have two main goals: the protection of the planetary environment from influence or contamination by terrestrial microorganisms, the protection of life science, and particularly of life detection experiments searching extra-terrestrial life, and not life carried by probes and spacecrafts. As the conditions for life and survival for terrestrial microorganisms in the Mars environment became known, COSPAR recommendations were updated. This paper will describe the decontamination requirements which will be applied for the MARS 94/96 mission, the techniques and the procedures which are and will be used to realize and control the decontamination of probes and spacecrafts.     

萤火一号火星探测计划的科学目标

与其他行星相比火星是与地球最为相似, 也是最有可能在其上发现地球以外生命现象的一颗行星, 因此特别受到人类的关注. 近年来, 有国家已经发射了火星探测器, 并启动了载人火星探测研究计划. 中国是世界上第五个具备自主发射人造卫星的国家, 也是世界上第三个具备自主开展载人航天活动的国家. 但是中国在深空探测领域才刚刚起步. 2007年中俄两国签署了联合探测火星计划, 俄罗斯负责将中国研制的一颗微小卫星------萤火一号发送至火星轨道. 萤火一号将开展自主探测, 并与俄罗斯的火卫一探测器开展联合探测. 本文综述了萤火一号任务提出的科学背景及科学目标, 简要介绍了为实现科学目标配置的有效载荷, 以及入轨后的主要探测任务, 并对其科学探测结果进行了初步的展望.      

Early martian environments: the Antarctic and other terrestrial analogs.

The comparability of the early environments of Mars and Earth, and the biological evolution which occurred on early earth, motivates serious consideration of the possibility of an early martian biota. Environments which could have contained this early martian life and which may presently contain evidence of this former life include aquatic, ice, soil, and rock habitats. Several analogs of these potential early martian environments, which can provide useful information in searching for extinct life on Mars, are currently available for study on Earth. These terrestrial analogs include the perennially ice-covered lakes and sandstone rocks in the Polar Deserts of Antarctica, surface of snowfields and glaciers, desert soils, geothermal springs, and deep subsurface environments.     

Bio-markers and the search for extinct life on Mars.

Geologic and climatologic studies suggest that conditions on early Mars were similar to early Earth. Because life on Earth is believed to have originated during this early period (3.5 billion years ago), the Martian environment could have also been conducive to the origin of life. To investigate this possibility we must first define the attributes of an early Martian biota. Then, specific geographic locations on Mars must be chosen where life may have occurred (i.e. areas which had long standing water), and within these distinct locations search for key signatures or bio-markers of a possible extinct Martian biota. Some of the key signatures or bio-markers indicative of past biological activity on Earth may be applicable to Mars including: reduced carbon and nitrogen compounds, CO3(2-), SO4(2-), NO3-, NO2- [correction of NO2(2)], Mg, Mn, Fe, and certain other metals, and the isotopic ratios of C, N and S. However, we must also be able to distinguish abiotic from biologic origins for these bio-markers. For example, abiotically fixed N2 would form deposits of NO3- and NO2-, whereas biological processes would have reduced these to ammonium containing compounds, N2O, or N2, which would then be released to the atmosphere. A fully equipped Mars Rover might be able to perform analyses to measure most of these biomarkers while on the Martian surface.     

Phosphorus as a potential guide in the search for extinct life on Mars.

In contrast to the search for extant organisms, the quest for fossil remains of life on Mars need not be guided by the presence of water and organic compounds on the present surface. An appropriate tracer might be the element phosphorus which is a common constituent of living systems. Utilizing terrestrial analogues, it should preferentially exist in the form of sedimentary calcium phosphate (phosphorites), which would have readily resisted changing conditions on Mars. Moreover, higher ratios of P/Th in phosphorites in comparison to calcium phosphates from magmatic rocks give us the possibility to distinguish them from inorganically formed phosphorus deposits at or close to the Martian surface. Identification of anomalous phosphorus enrichments by remote sensing or in situ analysis could be promising approaches for selecting areas preferentially composed of rocks with remains of extinct life.     

The use of mineral crystals as bio-markers in the search for life on Mars.

Photographs that depict presumed fluvial features on the martian surface have led geologists to hypothesize that water flowed across the early martian terrain. From this, it has been further hypothesized that the surface and atmospheric conditions on early Mars were similar to those on early Earth. Because the oldest fossil evidence of life on Earth dates back to this early period, at least 3.5 billion years ago, the possibility exists that the early Martian environment could have also been conducive to the origin of life. To investigate this possibility, universal signatures or bio-markers indicative of past (or present) biological activity must be identified for use in the search for life on Mars. Several potentially applicable biomarkers have been identified and include: organics (e.g., specific classes of lipids and hopanes), suites of specific inorganic and organic compounds, as well as the isotopic ratios of C, N, and S. Unfortunately, all of these bio-markers may be of biologic or abiotic origin; these origins are often difficult to distinguish. Thus, the discovery of any one of these compounds alone is not a bio-marker. Because minerals produced under biologic control have distinctive crystallographies, morphologies, and isotopic ratios that distinguishable from abiotically produced minerals with the same chemical composition, and are stable through geologic time, we propose the use of minerals resulting from biologically controlled mineralization processes as bio-markers.     

火星生命探测中一种潜在的生物标志物磷酸盐

地外生命探索是国际上广泛关注的深空探测重要目标之一.中国第一个火星探测器天问一号成功发射,开启了对火星表面形貌、生命迹象等进行科学探索的旅程.作为太阳系中与地球最为相似的星球,火星带给人类无穷的遐想.火星上是否存在生命,未来人类是否可以移民火星,磷作为重要的生命元素,在生命的整个进化过程具有不可替代的作用.磷酸盐可以作为一种潜在的生命标志物,为火星生命探测提供新的思路和线索.      

Life on Mars? II. Physical restrictions.

The primary physical factors important to life's evolution on a planet include its temperature, pressure and radiation regimes. Temperature and pressure regulate the presence and duration of liquid water on the surface of Mars. The prolonged presence of liquid water is essential for the evolution and sustained presence of life on a planet. It has been postulated that Mars has always been a cold dry planet; it has also been postulated that early mars possessed a dense atmosphere of CO2 (> or = 1 bar) and sufficient water to cut large channels across its surface. The degree to which either of these postulates is true correlates with the suitability of Mars for life's evolution. Although radiation can destroy living systems, the high fluxes of UV radiation on the martian surface do not necessarily stop the origin and early evolution of life. The probability for life to have arisen and evolved to a significant degree on Mars, based on the postulated ranges of early martian physical factors, is almost solely related to the probability of liquid water existing on the planet for at least hundreds of millions to billions of years.     

History of water on Mars: a biological perspective.

We divide the history of water on the Martian surface into four epochs based upon the atmospheric temperature and pressure. In Epoch 1, during which a primordial CO2 atmosphere was actively maintained by impact and volcanic recycling, we presume the mean annual temperature to have been above freezing, the pressure to have exceeded one atmosphere, and liquid water to have been widespread. Under such conditions, similar to early Earth, life could have arisen and become abundant. After this initial period of recycling, atmospheric CO2 was irreversibly lost due to carbonate formation and the pressure and temperature declined. In Epoch II, the mean annual temperature fell below freezing but peak temperatures would have exceeded freezing. Ice covered lakes, similar to those in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica could have provided a habitat for life. In Epoch III, the mean and peak temperatures were below freezing and there would have been only transient liquid water. Microbial ecosystems living in endolithic rock "greenhouses" could have continued to survive. Finally, in Epoch IV, the pressure dropped to near the triple point pressure of water and liquid water could no longer have existed on the surface and life on the surface would have become extinct.     

火星探测无人机任务规划与建模分析

利用无人机进行火星探测, 具有探测范围广、可看到地形变化等优点. 介绍了火星探测无人机总体任务规划的情况, 讨论了探测无人机在火星与地球上飞行的区别, 建立了火星探测无人机纵向非线性模型, 并在平衡点对非线性模型进行泰勒展开, 得到线性化模型. 通过对线性模型的进一步分析, 掌握了火星探测无人机的稳态性能及飞行特点.      

An alternative approach to solar system exploration providing safety of human mission to Mars.

For systematic human Mars exploration, meeting crew safety requirements, it seems perspective to assemble into a spacecraft: an electrical rocket, a well-shielded long-term life support system, and a manipulator-robots operating in combined "presence effect" and "master-slave" mode. The electrical spacecraft would carry humans to the orbit of Mars, providing short distance (and low signal time delay) between operator and robot-manipulators, which are landed on the surface of the planet. Long-term hybrid biological and physical/chemical LSS could provide environment supporting human health and well being. Robot-manipulators operating in "presence effect" and "master-slave" mode exclude necessity of human landing on Martian surface decreasing the level of risk for crew. Since crewmen would not have direct contact with the Martian environment then the problem of mutual biological protection is essentially reduced. Lightweight robot-manipulators, without heavy life support systems and without the necessity of returning to the mother vessel, could be sent as scouts to different places on the planet surface, scanning the most interesting for exobiological research site. Some approximate estimations of electric spacecraft, long-term hybrid LSS, radiation protection and mission parameters are conducted and discussed.     

Life on Mars? I. The chemical environment.

The origin of life at its abiotic evolutionary stage, requires a combination of constituents and environmental conditions that enable the synthesis of complex replicating macromolecules from simpler monomeric molecules. It is very likely that the early stages of this evolutionary process have been spontaneous, rapid and widespread on the surface of the primitive Earth, resulting in the formation of quite sophisticated living organisms within less than a billion years. To what extent did such conditions prevail on Mars? Two companion-papers (Life on Mars? I and II) will review and discuss the available information related to the chemical, physical and environmental conditions on Mars and assess it from the perspective of potential exobiological evolution.     

Life support systems for Mars transit.

The long-held human dream of travel to the stars and planets will probably be realized within the next quarter century. Preliminary analyses by U.S. scientists and engineers suggests that a first trip to Mars could begin as early as 2016. A proposal by U.S.S.R. space planners has suggested that an effort involving the cooperation and collaboration of many nations could begin by 2011. Among the major considerations that must be made in preparation for such an excursion are solidification of the scientific, economic and philosophical rationales for such a trip made by humans, and realistic evaluations of current and projected technical capabilities. Issues in the latter category include launch and propulsion systems, long term system stability and reliability, the psychological and physiological consequences of long term exposure to the space environment, the development and use of countermeasures to deleterious human physiological responses to the space environment, and life support systems that are both capable of the immense journey and reliable enough to assure their continued operation for the duration of the voyage. Many of the issues important in the design of a life support system for a Mars trip are based on reasonably well understood data: the human requirements for food, oxygen and water. However, other issues are less well-defined, such as the demands that will be made on the system for personal cleanliness and hygiene, environmental cleanliness, prevention or reduction of environmental toxins, and psychological responses to the environment and to the diet. It is much too early to make final decisions about the characteristics of the long-duration life support system needed for travel to Mars, or for use on its surface. However, it is clear that life support systems will evolve during the next few decades form the relatively straightforward systems that are used on Shuttle and Soyuz, to increasingly more complex and regenerative systems. The Soviet Union has an operating life support system on Mir that can apparently evolve, and the United States is currently planning the one for Space Station Freedom that will use partial regeneration. It is essential to develop concepts now for life support systems on an advanced Space Station, the lunar outpost (to be launched in about 2004) and the lunar base. Such concepts will build on current technology and capabilities. But because of the variety of different technologies that can be developed, and the potential for coordinating the functions of very diverse sub-systems within the same life support system, the possibility of developing an efficient, reliable mixed process system is high. It is likely that a life support system for Mars transit and base will use a composite of physical, chemical, and biological processes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potentially useful structural elements of a life support system for use on a Mars trip, and to identify the features that, at this time, appear to be most appropriate for inclusion in the system.     

用于火星表面生命信息探测的激光拉曼技术进展

生命信息探测一直是深空探测中重要的一个部分。简要介绍了拉曼光谱技术探测有机物的优势和火星生命信息探测进展,以及常见的火星生命信息探测技术;重点概述了国内外用于火星有机物和生命信息探测的激光拉曼光谱技术的进展,分析总结了火星表面有机物质探测技术的发展趋势;最后简要概述了拉曼光谱技术在火星探测领域的发展前景。     

Did life exist on Mars? Search for organic and inorganic signatures, one of the goals for “SAM” (sample analysis at Mars)

Observation of Mars shows signs of a past Earth-like climate, and, in that case, there is no objection to the possible development of life, in the underground or at the surface, as in the terrestrial primitive biosphere. Sample analysis at Mars (SAM) is an experiment which may be proposed for atmospheric, ground and underground in situ measurements. One of its goals is to bring direct or indirect information on the possibility for life to have developed on Mars, and to detect traces of past or present biological activity. With this aim, it focuses on the detection of organic molecules: volatile organics are extracted from the sample by simple heating, whereas refractory molecules are made analyzable (i.e. volatile), using derivatization technique or fragmentation by pyrolysis. Gaseous mixtures thus obtained are analyzed by gas chromatography associated to mass spectrometry. Beyond organics, carbonates and other salts are associated to the dense and moist atmosphere necessary to the development of life, and might have formed and accumulated in some places on Mars. They represent another target for SAM. Heating of the samples allows the analysis of structural gases of these minerals (CO₂ from carbonates, etc.), enabling to identify them. We also show, in this paper, that it may be possible to discriminate between abiotic minerals, and minerals (shells, etc.) created by living organisms.     

Science strategy for human exploration of Mars.

The scientific objectives of Mars exploration can be framed within the overarching theme of exploring Mars as another home for life, both for evidence of past or present life on Mars, and as a potential future home for human life. The two major areas of research within this theme are: 1) determining the relationship between planetary evolution, climate change, and life, and 2) determining the habitability of Mars. Within this framework, this paper discusses the exploration objectives for exobiology, climatology and atmospheric science, geology, and martian resource assessment. Human exploration will proceed in four major phases: 1) Precursor missions which will obtain environmental knowledge necessary for human exploration, 2) Emplacement phase which includes the first few human landings where crews will explore the local area of the landing site; 3) Consolidation phase missions where a permanent base will be constructed and crews will be capable of detailed exploration over regional scales; 4) Utilization phase, in which a continuously occupied permanent Mars base exists and humans will be capable of detailed global exploration of the martian surface. The phases of exploration differ primarily in the range and capabilities of human mobility. In the emplacement phase, an unpressurized rover, similar to the Apollo lunar rover, will be used and will have a range of a few tens of kilometers. In the Consolidation phase, mobility will be via a pressurized all-terrain vehicle capable of expeditions from the base site of several weeks duration. In the Utilization phase, humans will be capable of several months long expeditions to any point on the surface of Mars using a suborbital rocket equipped with habitat, lab, and return vehicle. Because of human mobility limitations, it is important to extend the range and duration of exploration in all phases by using teleoperated rover vehicles. Site selection for human missions to Mars must consider the multi-decade time frame of these four phases. We suggest that operations in the first two phases be focused in the regional area containing the Coprates Quadrangle and adjacent areas.     

Planetary protection and the search for life beneath the surface of Mars.

The search for traces of extinct and extant life on Mars will be extended to beneath the surface of the planet. Current data from Mars missions suggesting the presence of liquid water early in Mars' history and mathematical modeling of the fate of water on Mars imply that liquid water may exist deep beneath the surface of Mars. This leads to the hypothesis that life may exist deep beneath the Martian surface. One possible scenario to look for life on Mars involves a series of unmanned missions culminating with a manned mission drilling deep into the Martian subsurface (approximately 3Km), collecting samples, and conducting preliminary analyses to select samples for return to earth. This mission must address both forward and back contamination issues, and falls under planetary protection category V. Planetary protection issues to be addressed include provisions stating that the inevitable deposition of earth microbes by humans should be minimized and localized, and that earth microbes and organic material must not contaminate the Martian subsurface. This requires that the drilling equipment be sterilized prior to use. Further, the collection, containment and retrieval of the sample must be conducted such that the crew is protected and that any materials returning to earth are contained (i.e., physically and biologically isolated) and the chain of connection with Mars is broken.     

The antarctic cold desert and the search for traces of life on Mars

The cryptoendolithic microorganisms that live inside rocks in the frigid Ross Desert of Antarctica can serve as a terrestrial model for what may have happened to life forms on Mars when the planet became dry and cold. Trace fossils of microbial rock colonization exist in Antarctica, and similar structures could ave formed on Mars. In some respects, such trace fossils could be an easier target for life-detection systems than fossils of cellular structures.