Almost every month we write about the adventures of the Curiosity rover, which finds water-containing minerals in rocks and other evidence that could indirectly confirm the existence of life on Mars in the distant past. But from the point of view of direct evidence of the Martian stay, the rover only scratched the surface of the Red Planet.
This was stated by geochemist Jan Amend from the University of Southern California. Amend spoke at the Space Telescope Science Insititute in Baltimore on April 5.
The Curiosity drill penetrated at best only a few centimeters into the crust of Mars. Amend believes that the life of the Red Planet hides deep beneath the crust for a kilometer or more from a dead orange surface. Even if the ancient rivers and lakes on Mars have evaporated, it is very likely that a significant amount of water in liquid or frozen form is in the bowels of the planet.
The microbiological chemistry of ocean hydrothermal sources is studied in the Amenda laboratory. Recently, NASA allocated funds to his astrobiological team for experiments to search for life deep in the bowels of the Earth in order to better explore the possibilities of the same search on our neighboring planets and moons. We already wrote that under the crust of the ocean, it turns out, life literally boils and pleases with its diversity.
The project will also involve scientists from Caltech, JPL, the Japan Agency for the Study of Geological Sciences and Technology, as well as a number of other American institutions.
It is believed that a third of the carbon biomass is locked beneath the crust. The team will have to go down much lower than sedimentary rocks at the bottom of the oceans into porous rocks in order to find life. The scene - the bottom of the center of the Atlantic Ocean - is more than two and a half kilometers below the surface of the water. More “Martian” conditions require immersion in mines half a kilometer deep, as, for example, in the Death Valley in California.
This region under the deserts of the Earth is almost as alien as Mars - but much more accessible. It is completely unknown how many lifeforms are hidden in pitch darkness under a rocky surface under high pressure and low nutrient conditions.
“We are confronted with borderline biology in search of new organisms,” says Amend.
The idea of the underground biosphere was widely covered in the 1864 novel by Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth. Perhaps inspired by Charles Darwin, Verne described how his geologists found prehistoric life forms deep underground. Now the underground life of our planet will help scientists find life in other worlds.
Over the next five years, Amend will launch two-meter probes in the form of a torpedo called SEAL through a well in the shaft of the mine. His task will be to search for any organisms that live deep underground. They deliberately received the name "intraterrestrial".
New life discovery technologies developed by researchers in the depths of the biosphere may be the forerunners of what will be sent to the moons and planets of tomorrow. These include miniature ultraviolet microscopes for detecting luminescent creatures. The probes will look for microbes, collect data for their analysis and try to grow them in place (as was the case with the Viking Mars experiment in 1976). Other samples will be sent to the laboratory for analysis. The ultimate goal of research is to find out as much as possible about the range of conditions in which life can develop.
Among the microorganisms found in the framework of these studies, there is a "Firmicutes» (firmicutes), spore-forming bacteria that can survive in extreme conditions. But the most curious of all is the microbe desulforudis audaxviator , which lives almost at a mile depth. This organism is one of the few that can survive without sunlight, oxygen or organic compounds. Millions of years he lives, thanks to chemical food sources, which are derived from radioactive decay.
“This organism always has everything it needs,” Amend notes. “He breaks down water into hydrogen and oxygen for metabolism.”
This bacterium is the only one at this depth. Her DNA is 99% represented by one species. It seems that on Mars she will feel at home.
But in order to reach such deep-sea inhabitants on Mars, it is necessary to deliver the rig to the Red Planet. Perhaps in the future this will become the main goal of manned missions to Mars.
On the other hand, if people still do not establish space tourism, perhaps one day a muscular robot with artificial intelligence will bring the rig to Mars, assemble it and become its own researcher and team.
Another difficulty is that on Mars, a drill cannot overcome the pressure of dirt, water, or even gas to clean itself of debris. Engineers will have to develop new clean drilling methods. A Martian drill needs an effective method of keeping a well open without using heavy steel materials.
As an alternative method, they put forward the creation of a series of robots that will bite into the rock, grinding it.
In 2007, NASA discovered something similar to the entrances to underground caves on Mars. They are located on the slopes of Arsia Mons, which is 30 times larger than the Hawaiian Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth. These burrows in labyrinths can open the way to underground voids. And if Verne lived in the 21st century, he would have the opportunity to write a continuation of his novel entitled "Journey to the Center of Mars."
The article is based on materials .
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