Jump to content
Join the Alien Search, login or register FREE on Aliens and Space Forum
Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site

Add-on to Large-Scale Water Mining Operations on Mars to Screen for Introduced and Alien Life

NASA

By NASA
in NASA

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Publishers
NASA Mentor

NASA

Posted
  • Publishers
Posted

4 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

Artist rendition of labled Water mining ISRU missins on a lunar surface.
Graphic depiction of Add-on to large-scale water mining operations on Mars to screen for introduced and alien life
Steven Benner

Steven Benner
Foundation For Applied Molecular Evolution

As noted at NASA’s 2019 Carlsbad Conference we have good reason to think that:

  • Life started on Mars using the same geo-organic chemistry that started life on Earth.
  • Martian life persists today on Mars, in near-surface ice, low elevations, and caves, all with transient liquid brines, environments that today on Earth host microbial life.
  • Martian life must use informational polymers (like DNA); Darwinian evolution requires these, and Darwinian evolution is the only way matter can organize to give life.
  • While Martian “DNA” may differ (possibly radically) in its chemistry from Terran DNA, the “Polyelectrolyte Theory of the Gene” limits the universe of possible alien DNA structures.
  • Those structures ensure that Martian DNA can be concentrated from Martian water, even if very highly diluted, and even if Martian “DNA” differs from Earth DNA.
  • On Mars as it exists today, information polymers cannot be generated without life (unlike other less reliable biosignatures such as methane), ensuring that life will not be “detected” if it is not present (the “false positive problem”). Nevertheless, as noted by Rummel and Conley, “the Mars community is not convinced that a mission to attempt detection of extant Martian life has a high priority.” Thus, NASA’s current flagship mission to Mars, derived from its 2012 Decadal Survey, involves pedestrian collection of old dry rocks to be cached, eventually to be returned to Earth to study for evidence of past life.

The purpose of this NIAC project is to change this view, and to do so before human arrival planned by NASA, the Chinese National Space Agency, and SpaceX, “by 2040”, “in 2033”, and “before 2030”, according to their respective statements. Human arrival will undoubtedly complicate the search for indigenous Martian life. Thus, from an astrobiological perspective, these planned crewed missions to Mars put a very strict deadline on the search for life on a pristine Mars. However, crewed missions also offer an opportunity that we will exploit. Crewed missions to Mars will use materials found on Mars itself, “in situ”, in particular, near surface water ice. Propellant (methane and oxygen) will be generated from that water and

atmospheric carbon dioxide for the return trip back to Earth. That water ice will be mined on the scale of tens to hundred tons. Further, to maximize the likelihood of safe return of the crew to Earth, robotic operations that mine tons of near surface water-ice will be in place before the first human astronauts arrive. Thus, water mined in preparation for human arrival is correctly seen as an extremely large-scale astrobiological sample, far larger than dry cached rocks. As the mined water-ice is delivered with dust that, through dust storms, survey the entire accessible surface, this humongous sample will effectively enable a highly sensitive survey of the entire accessible Mars surface for life. This NIAC project will provide an “agnostic life finding” (ALF) system capable of extracting genetic polymers (DNA or alien) from

these large ISRU water samples. ALF is agnostic because it exploits what synthetic biology taught us about the limited kinds of Darwinian genetic molecules. ALF also offers tools to partly analyze the polyelectrolytes in situ.

As an add-on system, ALF creates a negligible additional burden (regarding mass and energy consumption) compared to the investment in the water mining operation at this scale. Although small and low cost, this instrument will allow science to place a severe lower limit on the amount of biosphere on the accessible Martian surface. And it will do so before Homo sapiens becomes a multiplanetary species. And “multiplanetary” is the correct term. This add-on ALF system can be used on all celestial bodies where water will be mined to search for and analyze life, indigenous or introduced, Earth-like or alien. This includes Europa, Enceladus, the Moon, and exotic locales on Earth.

2024 Phase I Selection

Keep Exploring

Discover More NIAC Topics

Space Technology Mission Directorate

stmd.jpg?w=525

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts

niac_magnetosphere.png?w=1041

NIAC Funded Studies

2022_niac_ph_i_ii_selections_web_graphic

About NIAC

niac_2019_howe_troy.png?w=649

View the full article

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Similar Topics

    • USH
      "We got it from them" - Former NASA flight surgeon breaks silence about alien technology
      By USH
      In 1992, Dr. Gregory Rogers a NASA flight surgeon and former Chief of Aerospace Medicine witnessed an event that would stay with him for more than three decades. Now, after years of silence, he’s finally revealing the details of a 15-minute encounter that shattered everything he thought he knew about aerospace technology. 

      With a distinguished career that includes support for 31 space shuttle launches, training as an F-16 pilot, and deep involvement in classified aerospace programs, Dr. Rogers brings unmatched credibility to the conversation. His firsthand account of observing what appeared to be a reverse-engineered craft, emblazoned with "U.S. Air Force" markings, raises profound questions about the true timeline of UAP development and disclosure. 
      The full interview spans nearly two hours. To help navigate the discussion, here’s a timeline so you can jump to the segments that interest you most. 
      00:00 Introduction and Dr. Rogers' Unprecedented Credentials 07:25 The 1992 Cape Canaveral Encounter Begins 18:45 Inside the Hangar: First Glimpse of the Craft 26:30 "We Got It From Them" - The Shocking Revelation 35:15 Technical Analysis: Impossible Flight Characteristics 43:40 Electromagnetic Discharges and Advanced Propulsion 52:20 The Cover Story and 33 Years of Silence 1:01:10 Why He's Speaking Out Now: Grush and Fravor's Influence 1:08:45 Bob Lazar Connections and Reverse Engineering Timeline 1:17:20 Flight Surgeon Stories: The Human Side of Classified Work 1:25:50 G-Force Brain Injuries: An Unreported Military Crisis 1:34:30 Columbia Disaster: When Safety Warnings Are Ignored 1:43:15 The Bureaucratic Resistance to Truth 1:50:40 Congressional Testimony and The Path Forward 1:58:25 Final Thoughts: Legacy vs. Truth
        View the full article
    • European Space Agency
      Earth tones on Mars
      By European Space Agency
      The European Space Agency’s Mars Express has captured a swirl of colour on the Red Planet, with yellows and rust-oranges meeting deep reds and browns. Lurking within this martian palette are not one but four dust devils, each snaking their way across the surface.
      View the full article
    • NASA
      NASA’s Perseverance Rover Scours Mars for Science
      By NASA
      6 min read
      Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
      In addition to drilling rock core samples, the science team has been grinding its way into rocks to make sense of the scientific evidence hiding just below the surface.
      NASA’s Perseverance rover uses an abrading bit to get below the surface of a rocky out-crop nicknamed “Kenmore” on June 10. The eight images that make up this video were taken approximately one minute apart by one of the rover’s front hazard-avoidance cameras. NASA/JPL-Caltech On June 3, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover ground down a portion of a rock surface, blew away the resulting debris, and then went to work studying its pristine interior with a suite of instruments designed to determine its mineralogic makeup and geologic origin. “Kenmore,” as nicknamed by the rover science team, is the 30th Martian rock that Perseverance has subjected to such in-depth scrutiny, beginning with drilling a two-inch-wide (5-centimeter-wide) abrasion patch.  
      “Kenmore was a weird, uncooperative rock,” said Perseverance’s deputy project scientist, Ken Farley from Caltech in Pasadena, California. “Visually, it looked fine — the sort of rock we could get a good abrasion on and perhaps, if the science was right, perform a sample collection. But during abrasion, it vibrated all over the place and small chunks broke off. Fortunately, we managed to get just far enough below the surface to move forward with an analysis.”
      The science team wants to get below the weathered, dusty surface of Mars rocks to see important details about a rock’s composition and history. Grinding away an abrasion patch also creates a flat surface that enables Perseverance’s science instruments to get up close and personal with the rock.
      This close-up view of an abrasion showing distinctive “tool marks” created by the Perseverance’s abrading bit was acquired on June 5. The image was taken from approximately 2.76 inches (7 centimeters) away by the rover’s WATSON imager. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Perseverance’s gold-colored abrading bit takes center stage in this image of the rover’s drill taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument on Aug. 2, 2021, the 160th day of the mission to Mars.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS Time to Grind
      NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, each carried a diamond-dust-tipped grinder called the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) that spun at 3,000 revolutions per minute as the rover’s robotic arm pushed it deeper into the rock. Two wire brushes then swept the resulting debris, or tailings, out of the way. The agency’s Curiosity rover carries a Dust Removal Tool, whose wire bristles sweep dust from the rock’s surface before the rover drills into the rock. Perseverance, meanwhile, relies on a purpose-built abrading bit, and it clears the tailings with a device that surpasses wire brushes: the gaseous Dust Removal Tool, or gDRT.
      “We use Perseverance’s gDRT to fire a 12-pounds-per-square-inch (about 83 kilopascals) puff of nitrogen at the tailings and dust that cover a freshly abraded rock,” said Kyle Kaplan, a robotic engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Five puffs per abrasion — one to vent the tanks and four to clear the abrasion. And gDRT has a long way to go. Since landing at Jezero Crater over four years ago, we’ve puffed 169 times. There are roughly 800 puffs remaining in the tank.” The gDRT offers a key advantage over a brushing approach: It avoids any terrestrial contaminants that might be on a brush from getting on the Martian rock being studied.
      To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
      This video captures a test of Perseverance’s Gaseous Dust Removal Tool (gDRT) in a vacuum chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in August 2020. The tool fires puffs of nitrogen gas at the tailings and dust that cover a rock after it has been abraded by the rover.NASA/JPL-Caltech Having collected data on abraded surfaces more than 30 times, the rover team has in-situ science (studying something in its original place or position) collection pretty much down. After gDRT blows the tailings away, the rover’s WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) imager (which, like gDRT, is at the end of the rover’s arm) swoops in for close-up photos. Then, from its vantage point high on the rover’s mast, SuperCam fires thousands of individual pulses from its laser, each time using a spectrometer to determine the makeup of the plume of microscopic material liberated after every zap. SuperCam also employs a different spectrometer to analyze the visible and infrared light that bounces off the materials in the abraded area.
      “SuperCam made observations in the abrasion patch and of the powdered tailings next to the patch,” said SuperCam team member and “Crater Rim” campaign science lead, Cathy Quantin-Nataf of the University of Lyon in France. “The tailings showed us that this rock contains clay minerals, which contain water as hydroxide molecules bound with iron and magnesium — relatively typical of ancient Mars clay minerals. The abrasion spectra gave us the chemical composition of the rock, showing enhancements in iron and magnesium.”
      Later, the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) and PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) instruments took a crack at Kenmore, too. Along with supporting SuperCam’s discoveries that the rock contained clay, they detected feldspar (the mineral that makes much of the Moon brilliantly bright in sunlight). The PIXL instrument also detected a manganese hydroxide mineral in the abrasion — the first time this type of material has been identified during the mission.  
      With Kenmore data collection complete, the rover headed off to new territories to explore rocks — both cooperative and uncooperative — along the rim of Jezero Crater.
      “One thing you learn early working on Mars rover missions is that not all Mars rocks are created equal,” said Farley. “The data we obtain now from rocks like Kenmore will help future missions so they don’t have to think about weird, uncooperative rocks. Instead, they’ll have a much better idea whether you can easily drive over it, sample it, separate the hydrogen and oxygen contained inside for fuel, or if it would be suitable to use as construction material for a habitat.”
      Long-Haul Roving
      On June 19 (the 1,540th Martian day, or sol, of the mission), Perseverance bested its previous record for distance traveled in a single autonomous drive, trekking 1,348 feet (411 meters). That’s about 210 feet (64 meters) more than its previous record, set on April 3, 2023 (Sol 753). While planners map out the rover’s general routes, Perseverance can cut down driving time between areas of scientific interest by using its self-driving system, AutoNav.
      “Perseverance drove 4½ football fields and could have gone even farther, but that was where the science team wanted us to stop,” said Camden Miller, a rover driver for Perseverance at JPL. “And we absolutely nailed our stop target location. Every day operating on Mars, we learn more on how to get the most out of our rover. And what we learn today future Mars missions won’t have to learn tomorrow.”
      News Media Contact
      DC Agle
      Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
      818-393-9011
      agle@jpl.nasa.gov
      Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
      NASA Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1600
      karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov    
      2025-082
      Share
      Details
      Last Updated Jun 25, 2025 Related Terms
      Perseverance (Rover) Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars Explore More
      5 min read NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Starts Unpacking Boxwork Formations
      Article 2 days ago 4 min read NASA Mars Orbiter Captures Volcano Peeking Above Morning Cloud Tops
      Article 3 weeks ago 6 min read NASA’s Ready-to-Use Dataset Details Land Motion Across North America
      Article 3 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
      Missions
      Humans in Space
      Climate Change
      Solar System
      View the full article
    • NASA
      Alien Ocean
      By NASA
      Explore This SectionScience Europa Clipper Alien Ocean Europa Clipper Home MissionOverview Facts History Timeline ScienceGoals Team SpacecraftMeet Europa Clipper Instruments Assembly Vault Plate Message in a Bottle NewsNews & Features Blog Newsroom Replay the Launch MultimediaFeatured Multimedia Resources About EuropaWhy Europa? Europa Up Close Ingredients for Life Evidence for an Ocean   To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
      Could a liquid water ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa have the ingredients to support life? Here’s how NASA’s mission to Europa would find out. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
      Europa Clipper Resources
      Jupiter
      Jupiter Moons
      Science Missions
      View the full article
    • Space Force
      DAF joins with Disney, Pixar to bring military family story to life in ‘Elio’
      By Space Force
      Ahead of the movie's theatrical release, Disney/Pixar invited military families to special screenings across the country, including at an event hosted by the Motion Picture Association in Washington, D.C.

      View the full article

  • Check out these Videos

×
×
  • Create New...