Mission type | Mars impactor |
---|---|
Operator | Washington State University |
Mission duration | At Mars: 10 Sols (≈11 Earth days) |
Mars impactor | |
The Biological Oxidant and Life Detection (BOLD) is a concept mission to Mars focused on searching for evidence or biosignatures of microscopic life on Mars. [1] [2] [3] [4] The BOLD mission objective would be to quantify the amount of hydrogen peroxide (H
2O
2) existing in the Martian soil and to test for processes typically associated with life. Six landing packages are projected to impact 'softly' on Mars that include a limited power supply, a set of oxidant and life detection experiments, and a transmitter, which is able to transmit information via an existing Mars orbiter back to Earth. The mission was first proposed in 2012. [5]
The Viking program to Mars was the only mission to date that conducted life-detection experiments. It revealed ambiguous and still controversial results. The mission proponents argue that new findings and hypotheses urge a re-evaluation of the Viking results and a re-evaluation of the evidence for the possible presence of life on Mars in general. [2] Recent and current missions to be launched focus on habitability considerations (e.g., Phoenix, Mars Science Laboratory), but shy away from directly testing for life on Mars, with the potential exception of the ESA ExoMars mission.
The BOLD mission is designed to be less expensive than most current Mars missions as it consists only of a carrier vehicle with 6 probes attached. No orbiter is assumed. Instead the probes take advantage of existing Mars orbiters for communications relay. The number of probes is intended to provide a certain degree of mission redundancy in case some of them do not land successfully or fail.
The scientific objectives of the BOLD mission are: to identify the unknown oxidant in the Martian soil, which was postulated after the Viking program, and to probe whether there is extant life near the Martian surface. In contrast to the Viking mission, which was geared toward finding abundant heterotrophic life on Mars with a global distribution, the BOLD mission is aimed at a more comprehensive search including lithoautrophic and photosynthetic microbes, and a variety of biosignatures. [2]
If selected and funded, the carrier vehicle with the landing probes would be propelled into a circular orbit around Mars. The orbiter would be equipped with a small solid rocket to provide the deceleration required to insert the spacecraft in an entry trajectory that can safely release the probes on the Martian surface. A terrain navigation system, coupled with robust propulsion, potentially permits targeting with precision on the order of meters if required to meet the science objectives. Each probe would have a mass of 59 kilograms (130 pounds) [3] with a science payload of less than 10 kilograms (22 lb). Each of the probes' lander system uses a parachute and a crushable shell behind the heat shield for a 'soft impact' landing. Upon landing, the science instruments at their tips would penetrate up to 30 centimeters (one foot) into Martian regolith, a depth sufficient to conduct accurate scientific measurements. [3] The landing probes will be powered by batteries. The mission duration for each landing probe is anticipated to be 10 sols (10 Martian days). [2]
The envisioned instrument suite on each probe includes: [1] [2]
Astrobiology, formerly known as exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology considers the question of whether extraterrestrial life exists, and if it does, how humans can detect it.
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Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program, landing on July 20, 1976. It was the first successful Mars lander in history. Viking 1 was operational on Mars for 2245 sols. Viking 1 held the record for the longest Mars surface mission of 2307 days or 2245 Martian solar days, until that record was broken by the Opportunity rover on May 19, 2010.
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Dirk Schulze-Makuch is a professor at the Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Technical University Berlin, Germany and Adjunct Professor at the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences Washington State University, Pullman, WA. He is best known for his publications on extraterrestrial life, being coauthor of five books on the topic: The Cosmic Zoo: Complex Life on Many Worlds (2017), A One Way Mission to Mars: Colonizing the Red Planet (2011), We Are Not Alone: Why We Have Already Found Extraterrestrial Life (2010), Cosmic Biology: How Life could Evolve on Other Worlds (2010), and Life in the Universe: Expectations and Constraints. In 2012 he published with David Darling Megacatastrophes! Nine Strange Ways the World Could End. In 2013 he published the second edition of his science fiction novel Alien Encounter. Together with Paul Davies he proposed in 2010 exploration of Mars by a one-way trip to the planet.
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