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Search For Life On Mars: Basin May Host Remains Of Ancient Mars Biosphere, Study Suggests

By Tara West
Published on: 13:39 PST, Apr 10, 2016

Scientists have long been looking for proof of life in space. With attempts remaining unsuccessful, many have turned to Mars as the most likely place to find life or remnants of past life. Despite the Mars rover Curiosity’s mission to study the red planet, no signs of life have been found. However, a new study suggests that if scientists want to find life on Mars, there is one place that has the highest probability of containing the remains of an ancient Mars biosphere, if one existed.

Space.com reveals that many scientists are looking to the Mars Argyre basin as the most likely place for ancient remains to be found. The Argyre basin is believed to have a number of unique features that could be indicators of past life on Mars such as possible ancient glacier deposits. Alberto Fairén, a visiting scientist at Cornell University in New York state and a researcher at Spain’s Center of Astrobiology, discussed the Argyre basin’s special properties with Space.com noting that it isn’t just one feature that makes the basin the best place to look for ancient Mars life.

“Argyre displays a collection of landscape features that are promising from an astrobiological point of view, including hydrothermal deposits, pingos [mounds of dirt-covered ice fed by water] or ancient glacier deposits. This large collection of special features all together in the same setting, accessible by a single mission, is what makes Argyre unique.”

As Fairén pointed out that Argyre is ideal for the next Mars rover mission as it is all located within a distance that would be accessible to a single mission and would not require anything new in regards to rover creation. It was pointed out that the basin floor lies at a low elevation and that the rover could be dropped into the basin by parachute. While many of the interesting features are within a short distance attainable by the rover, there is one problem that would pose difficulty during the winter months, a lack of sunlight.

The rover’s reliance on solar power would need to be adjusted as the Argyre basin is dark for the majority of the winter with very little sunlight. However, Fairén says that this could be overcome by utilizing nuclear power or by working shorter solar missions. While a few challenges do exist to fully explore the Argyre basin, scientists searching for life on the red planet felt that the basin provides the best possibility for success and that they would want the rover to be equip with a “true life-searching payload.”

“I would like to have a true life-searching payload to inspect the astrobiologically promising features. Argyre could be safeguarding the latest remains of an ancient Martian biosphere.”

If a search for life is the goal of an Argyre basin mission, extra care would need to be in place to ensure none of the equipment was contaminated by Earth microbes and that proper sterilization is achieved.

So why are scientists so interested in the Argyre basin? Fairén notes that a region like Argyre, where rocks and ice once interacted, there is a better chance of finding evidence of ancient life. The scientists says that there is even a chance that some of that microbial life still exists below the surface.

“A region like these where ice and rock interacted would be a very interesting environment for the development of microbial life. Martian life-forms might even exist beneath the surface today.”

Do you think scientists will find life on Mars if they perform “true life-searching” missions like scientists are suggesting?

[Image via NASA/JPL/USGS]

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