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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2018

Life on Mars? What to look for with MOMA on ExoMars 2020?

Résumé

It is likely that the first terrestrial life was quite different from the current DNA world. Thus even if we assume that life arose on Mars from a chemical evolution similar to the terrestrial one, and that the primitive life on Mars was similar to the first terrestrial living system, it may have been very different from the present terrestrial life. Moreover, it is far from obvious that martian biological evolution followed the same ways than on Earth, because of a different evolution of the red planet and different physical and chemical conditions. Thus when searching for extant martian life, one should not look exclusively for life as we know it today on Earth. We should also - and as first priority - look for life similar to the early terrestrial life, and more generally life based on similar but not identical replicating macromolecules, as well as protein-like macromolecules.Search for extinct martian life must also take into consideration the large differences in environmental conditions on both planets. In particular, it is likely that the degradation of potential living systems, and biomolecules on Mars, will yield break-down products quite different from what is observed on Earth (like humic and fluvic acids).Consequently, the search for molecular biosignatures of extant and/or extinct life on Mars must be largely open and use non molecular specific analytical tools, able of analyzing a very wide range of chemical families. This is the case with the MOMA instrumentation on the rover of the ExoMars 2020 ESA/Roscosmos mission.This presentation will discuss these important aspects of possible Martian biosignatures and the capabilities of the MOMA instrumentation to analyse them.
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Dates et versions

insu-04434608 , version 1 (02-02-2024)

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Francois Raulin, Arnaud Buch, Fabien Stalport, Fred Goesmann, Caroline Freissinet, et al.. Life on Mars? What to look for with MOMA on ExoMars 2020?. 42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Jul 2018, Pasadena, United States. pp.Abstract id. F3.7-8-18. ⟨insu-04434608⟩
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