Gan_2000abstr

 

A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF AN EXOBIOLOGY ROBOTICS LABORATORY TO SEARCH FOR LIFE ON MARTIAN WATER

 

D. Gan, L. Kuznetz

and

Student participants: D. Chu, V. Chang, C. Lee, D. Wilson, and M. Yamada

 

 

Liquid water is generally believed to be a prerequisite for life. Our Triple Point of Water (Mars conditions) experimental results suggest that liquid is feasible on the Martian surface. Footage from the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) had revealed signs of ancient flood plains, lakes, rivers, channels, ponds and seepage, and Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) photos also suggest recent water activity. Since water is possibly present on the surface, a robotics laboratory is proposed to search for life forms in Martian water by cultivation with various media and detection of life forms by microscopy.

 

Past methods included Lederberg's " Multivator Robotics Laboratory" to detect phosphatase by fluorescence, Merek and Oyama's Dual Chamber method and Vishniac's "Wolf Trap" to detect turbidity and pH changes as a result of growth. Lederberg proposed the use of Vidicon for microscopy. However, these past methods were not space-qualified. Levin proposed Chirality experiments to differentiate Martian microbes from terrestrial species. Deamer proposed nanotechnology to detect non-specific long chain polymers (ssDNA and ssRNA).

 

Results from the Viking experiments on Mars were inconclusive because the presence of superoxides may have precluded biological activities. Perhaps a direct approach using cultivation with peroxidase to neutralize superoxides, accompanied by microscopy may provide definitive answers to the question of life on Mars.

 

A conceptual model of a robotics laboratory was constructed to challenge the academic and scientific communities and the space technology to develop a feasible prototype that will search for, and detect, life on Mars. The method employs cultivation and microscopy to accomplish its objectives.