- The icy face of Jupiter’s Europa. A site for life? Credit: NASA
What might be waiting for discovery at the frost-covered ground at the poles of Mars? What about on the icy bodies in our Solar System, such as Jupiter’s Europa?
Those are cool questions. And to help answer those inquiries, scientists are on the hunt for the coldest forms of life right here on Earth.
Researchers Liane Benning (University of Leeds) and Dominique Tobler (University of Glasgow) have traveled to Ny-Ålesund on the island of Svalbard. From August 6-20 they are investigating how the snow and ice there were first colonized by extremophiles – organisms that thrive in harsh conditions.
The research is underway within the Europlanet Research Infrastructure’s Transnational Access Program – part of the larger international Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition (AMASE) project. That undertaking uses extreme environments on Earth as a test-bed for technology that will be used on future NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) “Search for Life” missions to Mars.
“Glacial snow and ice is a good analogue for ice and frost-covered ground at the Martian poles or other icy bodies in the Solar System, like Europa,” said Benning in a press statement.
She points out that organisms that live here on Earth have evolved to thrive with very little food, large temperature fluctuations, dehydration and high levels of ultraviolet radiation.
Hot on the trail
To date, studies of microorganisms in the cryo-world have focused on life found in sediment-rich subglacial ice or in melt holes on the surface. Signs of life present in surface ice and snow have not been studied as extensively.
One research track the team is focused on during the two-week outing is studying microorganisms on-the-spot. They’ll be using life-detection techniques that will allow them to determine live/dead cell counts, catalogue the biodiversity, investigate the geochemistry of inorganic samples and analyze the DNA of microorganisms.
“It’s a little like CSI in the snow,” Benning explained. “Just like a forensics team investigating a crime scene, we have to make sure we are not detecting any contaminants we might have brought with us into the field.”
The team will collect samples from snow fields and remote glacial sites, accessing those areas by helicopter.
If life does exist on other planets, Benning added, it is likely to be present in tiny amounts — just a few cells in a large area – so the team is making use of very sensitive equipment that can detect very small signals. “If we don’t get our experiments right on the ground, they have little chance of working elsewhere in the solar system.”
Want to follow Benning, hot on the trail of the coolest forms of life on Earth?
Check out her blog by going to the Europlanet Outreach Website:
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/outreach/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=259&Itemid=2
By Leonard David