Atacama Rover Helps
NASA Learn to Search For Life On Mars
(24 September 2004) A dedicated
team of scientists is spending the next four weeks in northern Chile's Atacama
Desert. They are studying the scarce life that exists there and, in the
process, helping NASA learn more about how primitive life forms could exist on
Mars.
The NASA funded researchers are studying the
Atacama Desert, described as the most arid region on Earth, to understand the
desert as a habitat that represents one of the limits of life on Earth. The
project, part of NASA's Astrobiology Science and Technology Program for
Exploring Planets, involves technology experiments to test robotic capabilities
for mobility, autonomy and science.
"Identifying living
micro-organisms and/or fossils in environments where life's density is among
the lowest on the planet should provide leads to establish detection criteria
and strategies for Mars or other planetary bodies," explained Dr. Nathalie
Cabrol of NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC). She is the project science lead
and co-investigator on the "Life in the Atacama" project.
Scientists
from ARC, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Tennessee, and the
Universidad Catolica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile, are participating in the
study. Scientists are scheduled to conduct their investigation and field
experiments in the Atacama through October 21.
They are using Zoe, an
autonomous, solar-powered rover developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon's
Robotics Institute. During the mission, Zoe is expected to travel about two
kilometres daily and provide panoramic and close-up images.
Zoe will
employ a variety of other scientific instruments to explore the remote desert.
The instruments include a visible-to-near-infrared spectrometer and a
fluorescence microscopic imager developed by Carnegie Mellon's Molecular
Biosensor and Imaging Center.
"Our goal is to make genuine discoveries
about life and habitats in the Atacama and to create technologies and methods
that can be applied to future NASA missions," said David Wettergreen, an
associate research professor at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute. He is
leading robotics research for the Life in the Atacama project.
The
first phase of the project began in 2003, when a solar-powered robot named
Hyperion, also developed at Carnegie Mellon, was taken to the Atacama.
Scientists conducted experiments with Hyperion to determine the optimum design,
software and instrumentation for a robot for extensive investigations during
2004-05 of desert life. Zoe and its instrument payload are the result of the
first year's research.
"The project is going a step further by trying
to understand if signatures of microbial life can be unambiguously detected
remotely using a robotic platform," Cabrol said. "These robots and science
payloads will be a wonderful precursor to human exploration and excellent
'astronaut/astrobiology assistants' when the time comes for human missions,"
she added.
Scientists also plan to map the habitats of the area,
including its morphology, geology, mineralogy, texture, physical and elemental
properties of rocks and soils; document how life modifies its environment;
characterise the geo- and biosignatures of microbial organisms and draft
science protocols to support a discovery of life. ARC scientist Chris McKay is
conducting a long-term ecological study of the Atacama as a Mars analogue
environment.
Scientists using EventScope, a remote experience browser
developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon's Studio for Creative Inquiry, will
guide Zoe. EventScope enables scientists to experience the Atacama environment
through the eyes and various sensors of the rover.
(source:
NASA)
