Mars Science Laboratory: An Opportunity for Public Engagement in the First Astrobiology Mission Since Viking

Details Mars Science Laboratory: An Opportunity for Public Engagement in the First Astrobiology Mission Since Viking Mars Science Laboratory: An Opportunity for Public Engagement in the First Astrobiology Mission Since Viking

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmed23a0714m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #ED23A-0714

Biology

[0406] Biogeosciences / Astrobiology And Extraterrestrial Materials, [0800] Education, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars

Scientific paper

After two years of the thrills brought to us by MESENGER, Dawn, EPOXI, Stardust NExT, GRAIL, and Juno, MSL takes the stage to round out the Year of the Solar System. The possibility of life on Mars has become a scientific issue of profound importance and of public interest. Since 1976, with the Viking landings on Mars, our concepts of the limits to life have continued to shrink and our expectation of the habitability of Mars has continued to expand. Mars has been discovered to have had standing bodies of water, transforming our imagined lifeless desert planet to one that has the potential for life in the past, or even the present. Our exploration endeavors will culminate in November/December 2011 with the launch of MSL, landing on Mars in August of 2012. The first roving analytical laboratory and first astrobiology mission to Mars since Viking will begin exploring Mars carrying ten instruments including environmental sensors and a laboratory capable of determining elemental composition, mineralogy, and able to discover and characterize organic compounds. This mission sets the stage for the coming decade, as Mars exploration moves from the theme “follow the water” to “seek the signs of life”. Even if investigations do not find evidence of life, nevertheless they would provide snapshots of the environmental conditions back through time to the earliest periods of the solar system, when life arose on Earth. This mission is an important component of a series of planetary missions in the Year of the Solar System. MSL project will engage the public and bring them along in the excitement of exploring our neighboring planet.

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