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Life could exist beneath the surface of Mars, study claims

Tuesday 28 July 2020 09:59 BST

The Rosalind Franklin rover, which will be able to dig beneath the surface in search of such life (NYU Abu Dhabi)

Life could exist beneath the surface of Mars, according to a new study.

Life has not been found on the surface of the red planet, despite extensive and ongoing searches. But a new study, published in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that the subsurface could provide a more suitable environment for possible alien life.

Conditions beneath the surface are less harsh, and there is evidence of water there. What's more, the new study claims that the continual bombardment by galactic cosmic rays, or GCRs, could provide the energy to stimulate the organic activity required for life.

The new study combined numerical models, existing data from space mission, as well as studies of deep-cave ecosystems that are found on Earth. By doing so, it suggests mechanisms through which life would be able to survive underneath the surface.

It also suggests ways that life could be detected by future landers. That part of the planet is yet to be explored, but scientists hope to be able to peer beneath the Martian surface with future missions.

The European Space Agency and Russian Roscosmos had been planning to send a rover to explore the subsurface, as part of the "Summer of Mars" that has also seen landers sent to the planet by the US, the UAE and China. It was delayed because of the need for further testing, and will now be launched in two years, when the next launch window opens.

Those other visitors to Mars, such as Nasa's Perseverance rover, will also explore the planet to understand whether it could have supported life in its ancient history.

"It is exciting to contemplate that life could survive in such a harsh environment, as few as two meters below the surface of Mars," Dimitra Atri, a scientist at the Center for Space Science at NYU Abu Dhabi, said in a statement.

"When the Rosalind Franklin rover on board the ExoMars mission (ESA and Roscosmos), equipped with a subsurface drill, is launched in 2022, it will be well-suited to detect extant microbial life and hopefully provide some important insights."

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

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1/10Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Mystic Mountain, a pillar of gas and dust standing at three-light-years tall, bursting with jets of gas from fledgling stars buried within, was captured by Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope in February 2010

Nasa/ESA/STScI

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

The first ever selfie taken on an alien planet, captured by Nasa's Curiosity Rover in the early days of its mission to explore Mars in 2012

Nasa/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Death of a star: This image from Nasa's Chandra X-ray telescope shows the supernova of Tycho, a star in our Milky Way galaxy

Nasa

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Arrokoth, the most distant object ever explored, pictured here on 1 January 2019 by a camera on Nasa's New Horizons spaceraft at a distance of 4.1 billion miles from Earth

Getty

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory in January 2012. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust

Nasa

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

The first ever image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon telescope, as part of a global collaboration involving Nasa, and released on 10 April 2019. The image reveals the black hole at the centre of Messier 87, a massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. This black hole resides about 54 million light-years from Earth

Getty

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Pluto, as pictured by Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft as it flew over the dwarf planet for the first time ever in July 2015

Nasa/APL/SwRI

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

A coronal mass ejection as seen by the Chandra Observatory in 2019. This is the first time that Chandra has detected this phenomenon from a star other than the Sun

Nasa

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks running downhill on the surface Mars were believed to be evidence of contemporary flowing water. It has since been suggested that they may instead be formed by flowing sand

Nasa/JPL/University of Arizona

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures

Morning Aurora: Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station in October 2015

Nasa/Scott Kelly

The study, 'Investigating the biological potential of galactic cosmic ray-induced radiation-driven chemical disequilibrium in the Martian subsurface environment', is published in Scientific Reports.

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