Comments on: Existing instrument on Mars Curiosity Rover could be used to detect life https://habitablezone.com/2025/08/18/existing-instrument-on-mars-curiosity-rover-could-be-used-to-detect-life/ Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:03:37 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: BuckGalaxy https://habitablezone.com/2025/08/18/existing-instrument-on-mars-curiosity-rover-could-be-used-to-detect-life/#comment-54240 BuckGalaxy Tue, 26 Aug 2025 02:33:22 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=106940#comment-54240 The scientists who figured out this technique, that uses existing hardware onboard Curiousity and other spacecraft, said the same thing. It could only detect life that was still alive or had died within hours. And they considered it extremely unlikely it would find existing life on the surface of Mars. Extremeophiles are tough little critters though. There was one of these instruments on the Titan Huygens probe in 2005. Damn shame no one knew this technique then. It also could be useful for future missions flying through water geysers on Enceladus and other moons. This instrument is not on either of the enroute Jupiter probes. The scientists who figured out this technique, that uses existing hardware onboard Curiousity and other spacecraft, said the same thing. It could only detect life that was still alive or had died within hours. And they considered it extremely unlikely it would find existing life on the surface of Mars.

Extremeophiles are tough little critters though.

There was one of these instruments on the Titan Huygens probe in 2005. Damn shame no one knew this technique then. It also could be useful for future missions flying through water geysers on Enceladus and other moons. This instrument is not on either of the enroute Jupiter probes.

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2025/08/18/existing-instrument-on-mars-curiosity-rover-could-be-used-to-detect-life/#comment-54239 RL Mon, 25 Aug 2025 21:21:42 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=106940#comment-54239 Organic molecules simply will be broken down rapidly near the surface. I am not saying I do not believe life of some sort is not possible, in fact I think there is a 'high' possibility that life existed on/in mars sometime in the past, and IF it did, then I think its a near certainty that it exists now... but FAR below the surface... mere meters will not be sufficient. I am thinking of the life we find trapped in groundwater kilometers under the surface of the Earth... And the Mars sample return was cancelled - along with most of the other things NASA was attempting to do... We will find water near the surface- mostly frozen, but the surface conditions - as we understand them- are not compatible with life of a type we are likely able to detect, nor its chemical remains. We might find billions year old fossils, and we should keep an eye out for that, but extant life or its organic chemical remains? No- not anywhere we are likely to reach anytime soon. Organic molecules simply will be broken down rapidly near the surface.

I am not saying I do not believe life of some sort is not possible, in fact I think there is a ‘high’ possibility that life existed on/in mars sometime in the past, and IF it did, then I think its a near certainty that it exists now… but FAR below the surface… mere meters will not be sufficient.

I am thinking of the life we find trapped in groundwater kilometers under the surface of the Earth…

And the Mars sample return was cancelled – along with most of the other things NASA was attempting to do…

We will find water near the surface- mostly frozen, but the surface conditions – as we understand them- are not compatible with life of a type we are likely able to detect, nor its chemical remains.

We might find billions year old fossils, and we should keep an eye out for that, but extant life or its organic chemical remains? No- not anywhere we are likely to reach anytime soon.

]]> By: BuckGalaxy https://habitablezone.com/2025/08/18/existing-instrument-on-mars-curiosity-rover-could-be-used-to-detect-life/#comment-54226 BuckGalaxy Mon, 18 Aug 2025 19:51:15 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=106940#comment-54226 Korolev Crater, located in the northern lowlands of Mars, is a large impact crater filled with water ice year-round. This ice is protected from sublimation (turning directly into gas) by a natural "cold trap" created by the crater's depth. The deepest part of the crater, about two kilometers below its rim, traps cold Martian air, forming a protective layer that keeps the ice frozen. <img src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/DEMSIzVA7dAuXQRkZHJ9EFNbAe4=/696x522/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2F_%2Fmedia%2F2018%2F12%2F21%2F08%2F25%2F181220_mars3.jpg" alt="" /> This would be an excellent site to look for existing life on Mars, as well as a base site for a Mars station or colony. It is BIG - approximately 82 kilometers (51 miles) in diameter. The crater contains a 1.8 kilometer thick deposit of water ice. Korolev Crater, located in the northern lowlands of Mars, is a large impact crater filled with water ice year-round. This ice is protected from sublimation (turning directly into gas) by a natural “cold trap” created by the crater’s depth. The deepest part of the crater, about two kilometers below its rim, traps cold Martian air, forming a protective layer that keeps the ice frozen.

This would be an excellent site to look for existing life on Mars, as well as a base site for a Mars station or colony. It is BIG – approximately 82 kilometers (51 miles) in diameter. The crater contains a 1.8 kilometer thick deposit of water ice.

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