!March: in all seasons
Liquid water once flowed on Mars. She and Earth looked a lot alike then. The steps that led to life on Earth may therefore also have taken place on Mars. Current missions are therefore focused on gleaning clues: but why is it so difficult to decide?
With
Caroline Freissinet CNRS researcher in planetary sciences at the LATMOS laboratory in Guyancourt, and specialist in organic matter in the solar system.
William Rapin CNRS Researcher at the Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology (IRAP) in Toulouse.
3 billion years ago, the planets Earth and Mars looked very similar, like two twin planets. Where are we in the search for life on Mars, present or past?
Rover Curiosity, the robotic geologist on wheels, continues to investigate what happened on Mars 3 billion years ago, when there were still lakes and rivers. Thanks to it, researchers provide proof of a climate and seasonality on this planet: an alternation of wet and dry cycles. In other words, conditions favorable to the emergence of life. Did the steps that led to life on Earth take place on Mars? Will we ever find ammonite fossils?
Science, CQFD is pleased to welcome Caroline Freissinet, CNRS researcher in planetary sciences at the LATMOS laboratory in Guyancourt, and specialist in organic matter in the solar system, and William Rapin, CNRS researcher at the Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology (IRAP) of Toulouse.
What instruments are used to study Martian landscapes?
A report produced by Céline Loozen.
In the wake of Curiosity, which provided numerous photos of Martian landscapes, Perseverance will also have to bring back samples to Earth. To target areas of interest, loaded with organic signatures, the rover's eye benefits from a concentration of cutting-edge technologies developed by LESIA: LIBS, Raman, reflectance and infrared spectroscopy and even color, with bonus, a microphone to capture the sound environment. Visit to the Space Technical Center in the Meudon Observatory park, with Pernelle Bernardi, engineer covering the mission since 2013 and technical manager of the SuperCam instrument.
Source: websites