Japan in search of life on Mars

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In addition to the ongoing Mars mission by NASA and Assa, a Japanese mission is looking to examine rock samples from Mars or its moon Phobos for traces of life.

Mars-Rover Perseverance Recently on first try, Rock samples from the Red Planet Failed to delete. However, further drilling is planned. Together with Essa’s Earth Return Orbiter, NASA plans to bring samples to and from Earth by the end of this decade. traces of past lives for inspection. The Japanese space agency JAXA plans to launch a similar project soon, but on the Mars moon Phobos.

one in the trade magazine science published report Japanese JAXA scientists Ryuki Hyodo and Tomohiro Usui will use the Mars Exploration Space Probe, which is still under development. As per the plan, the spacecraft will leave for Mars in September 2024. There are plans to land on Phobos after about a year. there should be martian moons exploration Take ten to 100 grams of soil sample.

Subsequently, several fly-bys of the second Martian moon Deimos are planned. The samples should reach Earth in 2029. There they will be examined for possible signs of earlier life on Mars. The scientists also elaborate in their article why the Japanese space mission takes samples directly from Phobos and not from Mars.

In a nutshell: On the Moon of Mars, scientists believe that when asteroids collided with Mars and then landed on Phobos or Deimos, they found rocky material thrown into space. These may contain traces of microbiological life that was previously possible on Mars.

Phobos, on the other hand, is not suspected of having water or an atmosphere. Even if they did not find any signs of life, according to researchers, samples from Phobos and Mars may help to understand the question of why there is no (long) life on Mars, but there is on Earth.

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