Europe’s Mars Rover Will Dig Deep in Search of Signs of Life
Clay deposits on Mars may hold some of the best-preserved evidence that life once existed on the Red Planet.
The European Space Agency’s Rosalind Franklin rover is expected to target Oxia Planum, an ancient basin believed to have once contained abundant water. Scientists say its clay-rich terrain could preserve organic material or other clues from a time when Mars was warmer and wetter.
Credit: NASA
The rover will drill below the radiation-damaged surface and analyze samples using onboard instruments. Researchers hope the mission can confirm discoveries made from orbit and reveal whether the region once offered conditions suitable for microbial life.
“Warmth and nutrients on an early Martian seabed could have provided habitats for early life,” said ExoMars deputy project scientist Elliot Sefton-Nash.
Mars lost most of its surface water billions of years ago, but evidence of ancient rivers, lakes and a thicker atmosphere has kept the search for past life alive. Recent findings have strengthened the case that some Martian rocks may contain possible biosignatures, though none have yet been confirmed.
Image Credit: European Space Agency (ESA) /ATG medialab
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