Universe Today
When astronauts finally set foot on Mars, they'll arrive carrying the weight of centuries of speculation about whether life exists beyond Earth. Now a new report from the National Academies has settled a fundamental question about priorities: searching for evidence of past or present Martian life should be the primary science objective for humanity's first crewed mission to the red planet, ranking above all other scientific goals including understanding the effects of Mars on human health.
The recommendation places astrobiology at the centre of what will be one of the most expensive and complex endeavours in human history. It means landing site selection, mission architecture, and crew training will all prioritise maximising opportunities to find biosignatures or prebiotic chemistry rather than focusing solely on demonstrating technological capabilities or preparing for eventual colonisation.
Ancient riverbeds can still be seen on the surface of Mars and it is here that the focus will lie in the search for life (Credit : ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)
The National Academies committee identified eleven ranked science objectives that human missions should pursue. The search for life tops the list, followed by characterising Mars' water and carbon dioxide cycles to understand how the planet evolved, and mapping the geologic record. Understanding how the Martian environment affects human physiology and psychology ranks fourth, while characterising the massive dust storms that periodically engulf the entire planet comes in fifth.
Further down the list sit objectives directly relevant to long term settlement, including exploring resources for in situ utilisation, determining whether the Martian environment affects reproduction across multiple generations in plants and animals, and understanding how microbes behave on Mars. These priorities reflect a deliberate choice to emphasise fundamental science over practical concerns about establishing permanent human presence.
The report presents four possible strategies for human exploration, each encompassing three linked missions targeting specific objectives. The top ranked approach would achieve every science goal identified in the report through a sequence beginning with a 30 sol human landing, followed by an uncrewed cargo delivery, and culminating in a 300 sol extended mission. All three would occur at a single exploration zone roughly 100 kilometres across, selected for features like ancient lava flows and regions where dust storms form.
Artwork of a potential Mars habitat in conjunction with other surface elements on Mars (Credit : NASA)
This campaign would require an extensive suite of scientific instruments brought to Mars, drilling equipment to access subsurface materials, meteorological monitoring stations, and a habitat laboratory where crews could perform detailed analyses before selecting samples for return to Earth. The extended 300 sol mission would allow astronauts to witness seasonal changes and investigate time dependent phenomena impossible to study during brief visits.
The second-ranked campaign takes a different approach, optimising for measurements needed across multiple science objectives rather than focusing on a single ideal site. This flexibility would ease landing site selection since many objectives could be achieved at various locations on Mars.
The third campaign focusses on the search for life by selecting a site where deep drilling could reach liquid water. Crews would collect cores, perform initial analyses on Mars, then return samples to Earth for comprehensive study of habitability and potential biosignatures.
The fourth option uses three short missions at different locations to explore widely varying Martian environments, potentially visiting sites with igneous geology, sedimentary rocks holding evidence of ancient water, and glaciers within dust storm forming regions.
The report recommends NASA continue developing planetary protection protocols to preserve the scientific integrity of life detection efforts, include surface laboratories in mission planning, and return samples from every human mission. Perhaps most importantly, it calls for regular summits exploring how humans, robots, and artificial intelligence can work together on Mars, recognising that the most scientifically productive missions will likely involve sophisticated collaboration between astronaut explorers and autonomous systems.
Source : Search for Life Should Be Top Science Priority for First Human Landing on Mars, Says New Report
