An extensive phase space for the potential martian biosphere

We present a comprehensive model of martian pressure-temperature (P-T) phase space and compare it with that of Earth. Martian P-T conditions compatible with liquid water extend to a depth of ∼310 km. We use our phase space model of Mars and of terrestrial life to estimate the depths and extent of the water on Mars that is habitable for terrestrial life. We find an extensive overlap between inhabited terrestrial phase space and martian phase space. The lower martian surface temperatures and shallower martian geotherm suggest that, if there is a hot deep biosphere on Mars, it could extend 7 times deeper than the ∼5 km depth of the hot deep terrestrial biosphere in the crust inhabited by hyperthermophilic chemolithotrophs. This corresponds to ∼3.2% of the volume of present-day Mars being potentially habitable for terrestrial-like life.

Survival potential and photosynthetic activity of lichens under Mars-like conditions: a laboratory study

Lichens were repetitively exposed over 22 days to thermophysical Mars-like conditions at low-and mid-latitudes. The simulated parameters and the experimental setup are described. Natural samples of the lichen Xanthoria elegans were used to investigate their ability to survive the applied Mars-like conditions. The effects of atmospheric pressure, CO(2) concentration, low temperature, water availability, and light on Mars were also studied. The results of these experiments indicate that no significant decrease in the vitality of the lichen occurred after exposure to simulated martian conditions, which was demonstrated by confocal laser scanning microscopy analysis, and a 95% CO(2) atmosphere with 100% humidity, low pressure (partial pressure of CO(2) was 600 Pa), and low temperature has a balancing effect on photosynthetic activity as a function of temperature. This means a starting low photosynthetic activity at high CO(2) concentrations with Earth-like pressure has a reduction of 60%. But, if the simulated atmospheric pressure is reduced to Mars-like conditions with the maintenance of the same Mars-like 95% CO(2) concentration, the photosynthetic activity increases and again reaches similar values as those exhibited under terrestrial atmospheric pressure and concentration. Based on these results, we presume that, in any region on Mars where liquid water might be available, even for short periods of time, a eukaryotic symbiotic organism would have the ability to survive, at least over weeks, and to temporarily photosynthesize.

Analysis of dark albedo features on a southern polar dune field of Mars

We observed 20-200 m sized low-albedo seepage-like streaks and their annual change on defrosting polar dunes in the southern hemisphere of Mars, based on the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), and High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images. The structures originate from dark spots and can be described as elongated or flowlike and, at places, branching streaks. They frequently have another spotlike structure at their end. Their overall appearance and the correlation between their morphometric parameters suggest that some material is transported downward from the spots and accumulates at the bottom of the dune's slopes. Here, we present possible scenarios for the origin of such streaks, including dry avalanche, liquid CO(2), liquid H(2)O, and gas-phase CO(2). Based on their morphology and the currently known surface conditions of Mars, no model interprets the streaks satisfactorily. The best interpretation of only the morphology and morphometric characteristics is only given by the model that implies some liquid water. The latest HiRISE images are also promising and suggest liquid flow. We suggest, with better knowledge of sub-ice temperatures that result from extended polar solar insolation and the heat insulator capacity of water vapor and water ice, future models and measurements may show that ephemeral water could appear and flow under the surface ice layer on the dunes today.

The 2005 MARTE Robotic Drilling Experiment in Río Tinto, Spain: objectives, approach, and results of a simulated mission to search for life in the Martian subsurface

The Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment (MARTE) simulated a robotic drilling mission to search for subsurface life on Mars. The drill site was on Peña de Hierro near the headwaters of the Río Tinto river (southwest Spain), on a deposit that includes massive sulfides and their gossanized remains that resemble some iron and sulfur minerals found on Mars. The mission used a fluidless, 10-axis, autonomous coring drill mounted on a simulated lander. Cores were faced; then instruments collected color wide-angle context images, color microscopic images, visible-near infrared point spectra, and (lower resolution) visible-near infrared hyperspectral images. Cores were then stored for further processing or ejected. A borehole inspection system collected panoramic imaging and Raman spectra of borehole walls. Life detection was performed on full cores with an adenosine triphosphate luciferin-luciferase bioluminescence assay and on crushed core sections with SOLID2, an antibody array-based instrument. Two remotely located science teams analyzed the remote sensing data and chose subsample locations. In 30 days of operation, the drill penetrated to 6 m and collected 21 cores. Biosignatures were detected in 12 of 15 samples analyzed by SOLID2. Science teams correctly interpreted the nature of the deposits drilled as compared to the ground truth. This experiment shows that drilling to search for subsurface life on Mars is technically feasible and scientifically rewarding.