On Sunday, NASA’s Phoenix lander became the fifth probe to successfully land on Mars, touching down near the Red Planet’s north pole. Over the next three months, Phoenix will take soil samples, searching for evidence of complex organic molecules in the ice-rich Martian arctic.
Although Phoenix won’t be able to detect the existence — or past existence — of life on Mars, analysis of the soil samples it gathers will help scientists determine whether or not the planet possesses the ingredients to support life.
To collect the samples, Phoenix will use a 7.7-foot-long robotic arm that can dig about 20 inches into the soil. But how do scientists know the arm will work?
As it turns out, Mars’ inhospitable landscape is reminiscent of an otherworldly region right here on Earth: Death Valley. Eight years ago, a robotic arm similar to the one on the Phoenix lander was tested by NASA scientists in California’s Death Valley.
In NATURE’s “Life in Death Valley,” join the quest for life on Mars with Dr. Susanne Douglas, a geomicrobiologist from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Center for Life Detection, as she investigates whether bacteria living in the hottest place on Earth may provide clues to extraterrestrial life.
