Searching for extraterrestrial life, especially on Mars, has always been one of the most important goals of space exploration. With abundant evidence of the existence of water in the past, the red planet has become a leading candidate in the hunt for microbial life forms in the Solar System. Although current missions such as Curiosity and Perseverance have provided valuable information about the climate and geology of Mars, directly detecting signs of life remains a major challenge. In the future, multiple missions are planned to continue the search for life on Mars, from collecting samples to detailed analysis of the planet’s surface and atmosphere. The article below will review the major missions being prepared to search for life on the red planet.
Mars Sample Return: Collect Samples Return to Earth
One of the biggest missions being prepared for the future is Mars Sample Return, a joint project between NASA and ESA to bring samples from Mars back to Earth for analysis. This mission is expected to take place in the mid-2020s and is likely to yield more concrete evidence of microbial life on the red planet.
The Perseverance rover, currently operating on Mars, has begun collecting rock and soil samples from Jezero crater – an area that once contained an ancient lake. These samples are stored in sealed tubes and will be returned to Earth in the future. Analysis of these samples in modern laboratories on Earth could provide important evidence of ancient microbial life, if it ever existed on Mars.
ExoMars: Exploring Biological Signals
ExoMars is a joint project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) with the goal of searching for biological signatures on Mars. This project consists of two parts: the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) orbiter and the Rosalind Franklin rover. TGO has been active since 2016 and is searching for gases associated with life, such as methane, in the Martian atmosphere.
The Rosalind Franklin rover, expected to launch in the late 2020s, is designed to drill deep into the Martian surface and search for organic compounds associated with microbial life. With the ability to drill up to 2 meters deep, Rosalind Franklin will reach layers of soil that no other robot on Mars has ever reached, which may preserve signs of life.
Icebreaker Life: Exploring the Ice Below the Surface
Icebreaker Life is a proposed NASA project to search for microbial life in the ice layers under the surface of Mars. The project will focus on drilling into ice layers in the red planet’s polar regions, where water ice can exist in harsh conditions. Scientists believe that if microbial life existed on Mars, it could survive in these ice layers, where conditions might be more stable and less affected by powerful radiation from space. .
The Icebreaker Life project will feature advanced scientific equipment to detect organic compounds and molecules related to life, such as amino acids. The main goal of the project is to test hypotheses about the existence of liquid water under layers of ice and its ability to preserve life in cold environments.
Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX): Searching for Signs of Life on Phobos
Although not directly searching for life on Mars, Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, scheduled for launch in the 2020s, will focus on studying Mars’ moons, especially Phobos. The main goal of the mission is to retrieve samples from the surface of Phobos and bring them back to Earth for analysis. Scientists think that dust and material from the surface of Mars may have been transported to Phobos by the solar wind and impact events, creating an opportunity to search for indirect biological signatures from the red planet.
Analysis of samples from Phobos could help shed light on Mars’ impact history and provide more information about the existence of life-related materials, if they ever existed on Mars. Data from MMX will make important contributions to our understanding of the Martian environment and the possibility of material transfer between Solar System bodies.
Manned Missions: The Search for Life in Situ
One of the biggest advances in the search for life on Mars will come from manned missions. With NASA and SpaceX’s plans to send humans to Mars in the coming decades, the ability to search and study directly in situ will provide new opportunities for understanding life support. of this planet.
Scientists and astronauts can conduct more complex experiments, drill deeper into the surface, and explore previously unreached areas. Direct in situ analysis will help confirm or refute hypotheses about the existence of microbial life on Mars and open up new research directions on potential habitats.
Life on Mars
Future missions to search for life on Mars will play an important role in answering the big question about the existence of extraterrestrial life. From Mars Sample Return to ExoMars and manned missions, further study of the red planet will yield groundbreaking discoveries about Mars’s ability to support life, especially in the past. Advances in exploration technology and deeper in-situ analysis will bring us closer to answers about life on Mars. These missions will not only help expand humanity’s understanding of our planetary neighbor, but could also provide important data for future settlement and development missions.
