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Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and the future missions to Mars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2010

Michel Cabane
Michel Cabane
Affiliation:
LATMOS-UPMC, Univ. Paris 6, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France email: cabane@latmos.ipsl.fr
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Abstract

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After their formation, and for almost 0.5 Gyr, Mars and Earth evolved in the same manner. On Earth, life occured very early, around 3.6 Gy ago. Then, the hypothesis that life might have occured also on Mars, and be extinct, is not unrealistic. If this is true, then complex molecules could be present, representing an early state of life-building blocks. Missions to Mars (Viking 1-2, Phoenix) have carried instruments capable to search for molecular indicators, although up to now, no positive detection has been obtained. Future missions to Mars (MSL-NASA, Exomars-ESA) will use enhanced experiments to try to end this quest.

Information

Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Highlights H15: Highlights of Astronomy , November 2009 , pp. 710 - 711
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

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