The quest to find life on Mars continues to gain momentum as researchers propose new tools and methodologies for future missions. The Mars Life Explorer (MLE) is on a mission to find signs of new, current life on the Red Planet. It would target areas where evidence of ice water may exist just beneath the surface. The Astrobiology Life Finder (ALFA) team has some important advice. They recommend adding the agnostic life finder to the MLE to massively widen the scope of potentially habitable worlds.
From all this, the ALFA team thinks their proposed agnostic life finder (ALF) excels in one key situation. They see it being deployed in a much larger tank that pools significant quantities of Martian water before the first crewed missions. According to the team, their ultimate goal is to remove the assumption that life on Mars is biochemically similar to life on Earth. Proposed in situ equipment for the MLE mainly aims to evaluate existing habitability rather than detect direct signs of life.
The Need for Agnostic Life Finding
Researchers have undoubtedly dreamed of hunting for life on Mars. The often elusive but fundamental goal of the astrobiological community. Without an agnostic life finder, the Mars Life Explorer does not go nearly far enough. It would probably only be able to detect life forms that are similar to those on Earth. By adding the ALF, it would vastly increase its capacity to detect a more diverse range of possible life forms. This addition would greatly increase the overall effectiveness of the mission’s stated purpose.
The ALF itself is a fairly straightforward instrument, but getting it to Mars –heating, cooling and transporting it intact — is the real logistical challenge. The ALFA team’s immediate work will involve field-testing and refining the instrument. That’s just what they’re doing, until the ALF is able to find its own way home. They are working to make the team as inclusive and welcoming as possible. The Mars Life Explorer, scheduled for launch in the 2030s, would analyze water-sample-carrying robot-collect samples for biological molecules.
“Research in ultra-low-biomass ecosystems on Earth, such as hyper-arid deserts and high-UV environments, has shown that instruments traditionally used in astrobiology often lack the sensitivity needed to detect life under such extreme conditions.” – Gabriella Rizzo et al
Their findings emphasise the urgent need for better detection technologies. These technologies need to be able to detect life in environments very different from those on Earth. By creating an agnostic life finder, scientists could avoid restrictions created by existing tools and methods.
Current Mission Objectives and Limitations
The main goal of the Mars Life Explorer is to drill into depth water ice found at mid-latitude areas on Mars. This exploratory drilling seeks to obtain samples of water produced by the geology beneath Mars’ surface that scientists can then analyze for biological molecules associated with life. As groundbreaking as this mission is in expanding Martian exploration, it has its share of drawbacks.
The Viking landers were some of the first spacecraft sent to Mars. They tried to procure biological materials, but as you are likely aware their results were notoriously inconclusive. These previous hurdles underscore the need for sophisticated detection techniques that can offer more definitive conclusions about the presence of Martian biology.
Without an independent, agnostic life finder, the Mars Life Explorer is destined to make the same mistake and look for only Earth-like indicators of life. The ALFA team argues that broadening the criteria for what constitutes potential life will enhance the mission’s scientific contributions and offer deeper understanding.
Future Directions and Implications
Crewed missions to Mars are just around the corner! Indeed, plans are already underway to send these missions in as short as 15 years. This urgency greatly increases the need for powerful, efficient tools able to detect signs of life in places that are very different from Earth. These proposed improvements from the ALFA team may be key to ensuring missions in the future get it right.
The ALFA team recently published a paper titled “Enhancing Mars Life Explorer (MLE) with True Agnostic Life Detection Capabilities” on arXiv, which articulates their vision and methodologies for improving life detection on Mars. Planning is still underway to finalize mission parameters and instrumentation. Advancing technology will be key to making these pioneering discoveries about the potential for life on Mars.
