Is there life on Mars? (9/20/2007)

Biopan is designed to carry out experiments requiring direct exposure to the harsh space environment. On Foton-M3 Biopan contains 10 different experiments in the field of exobiology and radiation exposure. Biopan is located on the outside surface of Foton and, once in orbit, automatically opens to expose its experiments. Biopan is closed prior to re-entry.- Credits: ESA

Key components of a new approach to discover life on planet Mars were successfully launched into space today as part of a twelve-day low Earth orbit experiment to assess their survivability when exposed to the space radiation environment - a prelude to future journeys to Mars.

The new approach is based on immunoassay technology similar to that used in pregnancy test kits. The approach is embodied in the 'Life Marker Chip' (LMC) experiment which has the potential to detect trace levels of biomarkers in the Martian environment. Biomarkers are molecular fingerprints that indicate if life currently is, or ever was, present on Mars. The LMC experiment has been proposed for the European Space Agency's ExoMars rover mission and which is planned for launch to Mars in 2013. The LMC experiment is currently in a development phase by an international consortium lead from the United Kingdom and that includes partners from The Netherlands, Germany and United States of America.

For the current mission the consortium developed a tiny experiment, measuring only 3.8 cm x 4.1 cm x 1.3 cm which houses over 2000 samples - many samples in the form of microarrays. The consortium seeks to determine whether the key molecular components to be used in the LMC technology can survive the rigors of a space mission and with a special focus on the space radiation environment.

The experiment was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan as part of the European Space Agency's BIOPAN-6 experiment platform; the LMC components will experience both weightlessness and the harsh space radiation environment whilst performing over 180 orbits around the Earth at an altitude of up to 308 km during the 11.8 day mission.

The BIOPAN-6 platform is mounted on the outside of an un-manned Russian FOTON spacecraft. Once in space the BIOPAN-6 platform will open to expose its contents directly to the space environment, testing both their resistance to space radiation and the space vacuum, before closing and returning to Earth on 25th September on the outside of the FOTON re-entry capsule. The LMC components will then be taken back to laboratories in the United Kingdom and the United States of America to analyse the effect of the space flight on the LMC components.

The lead members of the consortium involved in the current mission are Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) (Germany), Cranfield University (UK), Carnegie Institution of Washington (USA) and University of Leicester (UK).

Dr Lutz Richter of DLR (Germany) and the principal investigator for the current experiment said "This experiment is the culmination of a number of years of hard work and ground based tests to prove the viability of the LMC technology".

Dr David Cullen, from Cranfield University (UK) and who leads the scientific input into the current experiment, said "this will be our first space experiment to demonstrate our belief that immunoassay technology will have an important future role in space exploration and the search for life elsewhere in the Solar System".

Dr Andrew Steele from the Carnegie Institution of Washington (USA) and one of the initial experiment proposers said "in the USA we are currently flying related technology and components within the protected environment of the International Space Station (ISS) but this will be the first time that these types of materials will have flown unprotected in space in a manner similar to a flight to Mars".

Dr Mark Sims from the University of Leicester (UK) and who heads the overall LMC project said "this mission is another important stepping stone in our ultimate goal of putting a LMC experiment on the surface of Mars and using it to search for evidence of extraterrestrial Life".

A number of other people, organisations and companies have contributed to the experiment and these include Haptogen Ltd. (Aberdeen, UK), Oklahoma State University (USA), LioniX BV (Enschede, NL), Technische Universität München (Germany) and Dr Jan Toporski, formally of Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (Germany).

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of Leicester

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