Search For Traces Of Life, Scientists Give Spaces For A Further Surface Mars

Scientists want Mars explorers to dig deeper. (Doc. NASA Gov)

JAKARTA The exploration of Mars is still ongoing. A massive exploration mission was carried out by NASA rover robots namely Curiosity and Perseverance. Both were tasked with searching for the remains of ancient life ever on the red planet.

Based on an experiment held on the International Space Station (ISS), it indicated that the Mars rover was unlikely to detect the biomarker on the Red Planet except for Curiosity and Perseverance digging deeper.

Both Curiosity and Perseverance use Raman spectrometers to identify organic compounds, use lasers to identify molecules and analyze exactly how they spread light.

However, research published in Science Advances led by Mickael Baqué of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) shows that biological cells do not have the opportunity to survive on the Martian surface due to intense ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

The researchers showed molecular samples applied in conditions similar to those on Mars during 469 days in Biology and Mars Experiment (BIOMEX), including seven different types commonly found in organisms.

Only three chlorofins, quercetin, and melanin can still be detected after the exposure, and then signals from those molecules weakened 30% to 50% due to ultraviolet exposure.

[The ultraviolet radius] only penetrates the first micrometer to millimeters of the Martian surface, so the potential organic compounds and biomolekuls must be protected at this depth, Baqué told the press, quoted from Sputnik News.

Therefore, the researchers stated that the Martian surface would likely appear dead if the planet had enough life to continue to fill the biomarker. However, if so, then the Mars Curiosity and Perseverance rover robots must carry out excavations on Martian soil of up to the first few millimeters to find layers that are not exposed to solar radiation.