Top

Published in:

2018 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

The Search for Signatures of Life and Habitability on Planets and Moons of Our Solar System

Authors : Oliver Funke, Gerda Horneck

Published in: Biological, Physical and Technical Basics of Cell Engineering

Publisher: Springer Singapore

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

In the endeavor to search for signs of extraterrestrial life within the Solar System our neighbor planet Mars and the moons Europa and Enceladus of the outer planets are the most promising candidates. For this purpose, the German Aerospace Center DLR is developing the following devices for in situ exploration: VaMEx (Valles Marineris Explorer), a network of small rovers and walking/crawling and flying robots, to explore the deep canyon of Mars; and the ice-moles EurEx (Europa Explorer) and EnEx (Enceladus Explorer) for the exploration of the subglacial oceans of Europa and Enceladus. The realization of those projects (e.g., VaMEx mission by 2035, and EurEx mission not before 2050) requires their involvement in a global exploration program, comparable to the program of the Global Exploration Roadmap, which has been developed by 14 space agencies with the final goal of bringing human explorers to Mars.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

previous chapter Microbial Sampling from Dry Surfaces: Current Challenges and Solutions

Carr, M. H., Belton, M. J. S., Chapman, C. R., Davies, M. E., Geissler, P., Greenberg, R., et al. (1998). Evidence for a subsurface ocean on Europa. Nature, 391, 363–365.CrossRef

Cockell, C. S., Bush, T., Bryce, C., Direito, S., Fox-Powell, M., Harrison, J. P., et al. (2016). Habitability: A review. Astrobiology, 16, 89–117.CrossRef

Cockell, C. S., & Westall, F. (2004). A postulate to assess ‘habitability’. International Journal of Astrobiology, 3, 157–163.CrossRef

Collinson, G. A., Frahm, R. A., Glocer, A., Coates, A. J., Grebowsky, J. M., & Barabash, S. (2016). The electric wind of Venus: A global and persistent ‘polar wind’-like ambipolar electric field sufficient for the direct escape of heavy ionospheric ions. Geophysical Research Letters, 43, 5926–5934.CrossRef

Dachwald, B., Xu, C., Feldmann, M., & Plescher, E. (2011). Development of a novel subsurface ice probe and testing of the first prototype on the Morteratsch Glacier. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 13, 4943.

De Duve, C. (2011). Life as a cosmic imperative? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 369, 620–623.CrossRef

Dohm, J. M., Williams, J. P., Anderson, R. C., Ruiz, J., McGuire, P. C., Komatsu, G., et al. (2009). New evidence for a magmatic influence on the origin of Valles Marineris, Mars. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 185, 12–27.CrossRef

Edwards, C. S., & Piqueux, S. (2016). The water content of recurring slope lineae on Mars. Geophysical Research Letters, 43, 8912–8919.CrossRef

Falconí, G. P., & Holzapfel, F. (2013). Adaptive fault tolerant control allocation for a hexacopter system. In Proceedings of the American Control Conference, 2016 (pp. 6760–6766).

10.

Falconí, G. P., Schatz, S. P., & Holzapfel, F. (2016). Fault tolerant control of a hexarotor using a command governor augmentation. In 24th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation (MED), 2016 (pp. 182–187).

11.

Gourronc, M., Bourgeois, O., Mège, D., Pochat, S., Bultel, B., Massé, M., et al. (2014). One million cubic kilometers of fossil ice in Valles Marineris: Relicts of a 3.5 Gy old glacial landsystem along the Martian equator. Geomorphology, 204, 235–255.CrossRef

12.

Hand, K. (2017). The search for life in Oceans beyond Earth, Space science week public lecture. Washington D.C., USA: National Academy of Sciences.

13.

Horneck, G. (2000). The microbial world and the case for Mars. Planetary and Space Science, 48, 1053–1063.CrossRef

14.

Horneck, G., Walter, N., Westall, F., Grenfell, J. L., Martin, W. F., Gomez, F., et al. (2016). AstRoMap European Astrobiology Roadmap. Astrobiology, 16(3), 201–243. (Special Issue).CrossRef

15.

Horvath, J. C., Carsey, F. D., Cutts, J. A., Jones, J. A., Johnson, E. D., Landry, B. M., … & Jeng, T. W. (1997, July). Searching for ice and ocean biogenic activity on Europa and Earth. In Optical Science, Engineering and Instrumentation’97 (pp. 490–500). International Society for Optics and Photonics.

16.

Kasting, J. F., Whitmire, D. P., & Reynolds, R. T. (1993). Habitable zones around main sequence stars. Icarus, 101, 108–128.CrossRef

17.

Khurana, K. K., Kivelson, M. G., Stevenson, D. J., Schubert, G., Russell, C. T., Walker, R. J., et al. (1998). Induced magnetic fields as evidence for subsurface oceans in Europa and Callisto. Nature, 395, 777–780.CrossRef

18.

Kminek, G., & Rummel, J. (2015). COSPAR’s Planetary Protection Policy. Space Research Today, 193, 1–14. (COSPAR’s information bulletin).

19.

Konstantinidis, K., Martinez, C. L. F., Dachwald, B., Ohndorf, A., Dykta, P., Bowitz, P., … & Förstner, R. (2015). A lander mission to probe subglacial water on Saturn’s moon Enceladus for life. Acta astronautica, 106, 63–89.CrossRef

20.

Kowalski, J., Linder, P., Zierke, S., von Wulfen, B., Clemens, J., Konstantinidis, K., et al. (2016). Navigation technology for exploration of glacier ice with maneuverable melting probes. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 123, 53–70.CrossRef

21.

Kulikov, Yu N, Lammer, H., Lichtenegger, H. I. M., Terada, N., Ribas, I., Kolb, C., et al. (2006). Atmospheric and water loss from early Venus. Planetary and Space Science, 54, 1425–1444.CrossRef

22.

Lammer, H., Selsis, F., Penz, T., Amerstorfer, U. V., Lichtenegger, H. I. M., Kolb, C., et al. (2005). Atmospheric evolution and history of water on Mars. In T. Tokano (Ed.), Water on Mars and Life (pp. 25–44)., Advances in astrobiology and biogeophysics Berlin: Springer.

23.

Lammer, H., Bredehöft, J. H., Coustenis, A., Khodachenko, M. L., Kaltenegger, L., Grasset, O., et al. (2009). What makes a planet habitable? The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, 17, 181–249.CrossRef

24.

Leimena, W., Artmann, G. M., Dachwald, B., Artmann, A., Goßmann, M., & Digel, I. (2010). Feasibility of an in-situ microbial decontamination of an ice-melting probe. Eurasian Chemico-Technological Journal, 12(2), 145–150.CrossRef

25.

Lemke, M. K., Funke, O., Klein, V., Montenegro, S., Schilling, K., & Buehler, C., et al. (2017). German large national mission candidate SKAD—a satellite-based cooperative autonomous drone swarm for exploration. In Submitted to 68th International Astronautical Congress 2017.

26.

Leone, G. (2014). A network of lava tubes as the origin of Labyrinthus Noctis and Valles Marineris on Mars. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 277, 1–8.CrossRef

27.

Léveillé, R. J., & Datta, S. (2009). Lava tubes and basaltic caves as astrobiological targets on Earth and Mars: A review. Planetary and Space Science, 58(2010), 592–598.

28.

Lunine, J. I. (2017). Ocean worlds exploration. Acta Astronautica, 131, 123–130.CrossRef

29.

Martín-Torres, F. J., Zorzano, M.-P., Valentín-Serrano, P., Harri, A.-M., & Genzer, M. (2015). Transient liquid water and water activity at Gale crater on Mars. Nature Geoscience, 8(5), 357–361.CrossRef

30.

McEwen, A. S., Ojha, L., Dundas, C. M., Mattson, S. S., Byrne, S., Wray, J. J., et al. (2011). Seasonal Flows on Warm Martian Slopes. Science, 333, 740–743.CrossRef

31.

McEwan, A, Chojnacki, M., Dundas, C., Ojha, L., Masse, M., & Schaefer, E., et al. (2015). Recurring slope lineae on Mars: Atmospheric Origin? EPSC Abstracts, 10, EPSC2015-786-1.

32.

McKay, C. P., Anbar, A. D., Porco, C., & Tsou, P. (2014). Follow the plume: The habitability of enceladus. Astrobiology, 14, 352–355.CrossRef

33.

Muscettola, N., Nayak, P. P., Pell, B., & Williams, B. C. (1998). Remote agent: To boldly go where no AI system has gone before. Artificial Intelligence, 103(1–2), 5–47.CrossRef

34.

Nimmo, F., & Stevenson, D. J. (2000). Influence of early plate tectonics on the thermal evolution and magnetic field of Mars. Journal Geophysical Research, 105(E5), 11969–11979.CrossRef

35.

Ojha, L., Wilhelm, M. B., Murchie, S. L., McEwen, A. S., Wray, J. J., Hanley, J., et al. (2015). Spectral evidence for hydrated salts in recurring slope lineae on Mars. Nature Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2546.CrossRef

36.

Okubo, C. H. (2016). Morphologic evidence of subsurface sediment mobilization and mud volcanism in Candor and Coprates Chasmata, Valles Marineris, Mars. Icarus, 269, 23–37.CrossRef

37.

Proskurowski, G., Lilley, M. D., Seewald, J. S., Früh-Green, G. L., Olson, E. J., Lupton, J. E., et al. (2008). Abiogenic hydrocarbon production at Lost City hydrothermal field. Science, 319, 604–607.CrossRef

38.

Roth, L., Saur, J., Retherford, K. D., Strobel, D. F., Feldman, P. D., McGrath, M. A., et al. (2014). Transient water vapor at Europa’s south pole. Science, 343, 171–174.CrossRef

39.

Sand, S., Zhang, S., Mühlegg, M., Falconi, G., Zhu, C., & Krüger, T., et al. (2013). Swarm exploration and navigation on Mars. In 2013 International Conference on Localization and GNSS (ICL-GNSS).

40.

Sotin, C., & Prieur, D. (2007). Jupiter’s Moon Europa: Geology and habitability. In G. Horneck & P. Rettberg (Eds.), Complete course in astrobiology (pp. 253–271). Germany: Wiley-VCH, Weinhiem.CrossRef

41.

Spahn, F., Schmidt, J., Albers, N., Hörning, M., Makuch, M., Seiss, M., et al. (2006). Cassini dust measurements at Enceladus and implications for the origin of the E ring. Science, 311, 1416–1418.CrossRef

42.

Stillman, D. E., Michaels, T. I., Grimm, R. E., & Hanley, J. (2016). Observations and modeling of northern mid-latitude recurring slope lineae (RSL) suggest recharge by a present-day martian briny aquifer. Icarus, 265, 125–138.CrossRef

43.

Tokano, T. (Ed.). (2005). Water on Mars and Life., Advances in astrobiology and biogeophysics Berlin: Springer.

44.

Ulamec, S., Biele, J., Funke, O., & Engelhardt, M. (2006). Access to glacial and subglacial environments in the Solar System by melting probe technology. Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology, 6(2006), 71–94.

45.

Vance, S., Harnmeijer, J., Kimura, J., Hussmann, H., deMartin, B., & Brown, J. M. (2007). Hydrothermal systems in small Ocean planets. Astrobiology, 7(6), 987–1005.CrossRef

46.

Waite, J. H., Lewis, W. S., Magee, B. A., Lunine, J. I., McKinnon, W. B., Glein, C. R., et al. (2009). Liquid water on Enceladus from observations of ammonia and 40 A in the plume. Nature, 460, 487–490.CrossRef

47.

Westall, F. (2011). Early life. In: M. Gargaud, P. López-Garcia, & H. Martin (Eds), Origins and Evolution of Life: An astrobiology perspective (pp. 391–413). Cambridge University Press.

48.

Westall, F., Foucher, F., Bost, N., Bertrand, M., Loizeau, D., Vago, J. L., et al. (2015). Biosignatures on Mars: What, where, and how? implications for the search for martian life. Astrobiology, 15(11), 998–1029.CrossRef

49.

Wirtz, M., & Hildebrand, M. (2016). IceShuttle Teredo: An Ice-Penetrating Robotic System to Transport an Exploration AUV into the Ocean of Jupiter’s Moon Europa. In 67th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Guadalajara, Mexico, September 26–30, 2016.

50.

Zimmerman, W., Bryant, S., Zitzelberger, J., & Nesmith, B. (2001, February). A radioisotope powered cryobot for penetrating the Europan ice shell. In M. S. El-Genk & M. J. Bragg (Eds.), AIP Conference Proceedings (Vol. 552, No. 1, pp. 707–715). AIP.

Title: The Search for Signatures of Life and Habitability on Planets and Moons of Our Solar System
Authors: Oliver Funke
Gerda Horneck
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Book: Biological, Physical and Technical Basics of Cell Engineering
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-7903-0

Electronic ISBN: 978-981-10-7904-7

Copyright Year: 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7904-7_20