Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Nov 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996aps..ses..cb11a&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, Southeastern Section Meeting, November 14-16, 1996, abstract #CB.11
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
It has been twenty years since NASA's Viking landers searched, and failed, to find life in few scoops of Martian soil. With the recent discovery of a possible fossil record in the Martian meteorite, ALH 84001, there is new excitement attached to the question whether life ever existed on Mars. An exploration strategy has been formulated that establishes a systematic approach to answering this question. This was not done before the Viking missions, but will be an important aspect of the new Mars exploration campaign. First, Mars should be understood as a world in order to establish the geological context, especially as it was during the first billion years when life might have arisen. Next, conditions on early Mars must be investigated - atmosphere, surface temperature, whether there was running water, hot springs, etc. - to establish whether these conditions were conducive to the formation of a biosphere. Then, evidence that a biosphere existed would be sought - so-called "biomarkers" obtained from geochemical and mineralogical characterization of soil or, preferentially, fresh rock surfaces. Examples include isotope ratios, concentration of particular elements, hydrocarbon compounds, etc., that are likely to have been produced biologically. Finally, direct fossil evidence for early life on Mars would be sought, but might require return of samples selected according to well-established criteria. Such sample return missions are likely within the first decade of the next century.
Agresti David G.
Wdowiak Thomas J.
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