The Biological Oxidant and Life Detection (BOLD) mission: A proposal for a mission to Mars

Schulze‐Makuch, Dirk; Head, J.; Houtkooper, Joop M.; Knoblauch, Michael; Furfaro, Roberto; Fink, Wolfgang; Fairén, Alberto González; Vali, Hojatollah; Sears, S. Kelly; Daly, M. G.; Deamer, David W.; Schmidt, Holger; Hawkins, Aaron R.; Sun, Henry J.; Lim, D. S. S.; James, David; Irwin, Louis N.; Dávila, Alfonso F.; Méndez, Abel; Andersen, Dale T.

doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.008

Cited by 32 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Contributions in geologically recent times from precipitation, and possibly present-day fog (Neumann et al, 2003) and snow, all may have contributed to surface modification, including periglacial activity, as well as life if existing. The above conditions make the Argyre province a prime astrobiologic target on Mars, but due to its vastness, new mission designs will likely be required to optimize the search for life (Fink et al, 2005(Fink et al, , 2007a(Fink et al, ,b, 2008Schulze-Makuch et al, 2012).…”

Section: Basin Conditions From Impact To Todaymentioning

confidence: 99%

Geological and hydrological histories of the Argyre province, Mars

Dohm

Hare

Robbins

et al. 2015

Icarus

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Section: Basin Conditions From Impact To Todaymentioning

confidence: 99%

Geological and hydrological histories of the Argyre province, Mars

Dohm

Hare

Robbins

et al. 2015

Icarus

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“…the Biological Oxidant and Life Detection (BOLD) mission proposed by Schulze-Makuch et al . (2012), may close that gap. Common for the proposed mechanisms is that they mainly aim at explaining the production of ROS in relation to the Viking Experiments and consequently by reactions taking place in an aqueous solution.…”

Section: Sources Of Oxidants In the Martian Regolithmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical and chemical mechanisms that impact the detection, identification, and quantification of organic matter and the survival of microorganisms on the Martian surface – a review

Bak

Nørnberg

Jensen

et al. 2022

International Journal of Astrobiology

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The iconic Viking Landers that landed on Mars in 1976 demonstrated that the Martian surface is an extreme place, dominated by high UV fluxes and regolith chemistry capable of oxidizing organic molecules. From follow-on missions, we have learned that Mars was much warmer and wetter in its early history, and even some areas of Mars (such as crater lakes, possibly with sustained hydrothermal activity) were habitable places (e.g. Grotzinger et al. (2014). Science (New York, N.Y.) 343; Mangold et al. (2021). Science (New York, N.Y.). However, based on the Viking results we have learnt that the search for life and its remains is challenged by abiotic breakdown and alteration of organic material. In particular, the harsh radiation climate at the Martian surface that directly and indirectly could degrade organics has been held accountable for the lack of organics in the Martian regolith. Recent work simulating wind-driven erosion of basalts under Mars-like conditions has shown that this process, comparable to UV- and ionizing radiation, produces reactive compounds, kills microbes and removes methane from the atmosphere. and thereby could equally jeopardize the success of life-seeking missions to Mars. In this review, we summarize and discuss previous work on the role of physical and chemical mechanisms that affect the persistence of organics, and their consequences for the detection of life and/or its signatures in the Martian regolith and in the atmosphere.

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“…The general design involves six small probes capable of soft landing, each containing a life-detection or habitability-characterizing instrument. One of the proposed instruments is a microscope with the following characteristics: capable of both context imaging (~20 μm resolution) and high-resolution imaging (~1 μm); LED illumination with UV and red, green, and blue light; laser fluorescence excitation with labeling with three dyes (dyes not specified, but UV excitation is suggested); and possibly a spectrometer [64]. It is important to note that the microscope described is a concept only.…”

Section: Fluorescence Microscopymentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaging technologies and strategies for detection of extant extraterrestrial microorganisms

Nadeau

Bedrossian

Lindensmith

2018

Advances in Physics: X

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There is no reductionist definition of life, so the way organisms look, behave, and move is the most definitive way to identify extraterrestrial life. Life elsewhere in the Solar System is likely to be microbial, but no microscope capable of imaging prokaryotic life has ever flown on a lander mission to a habitable planet. Nonetheless, high-resolution microscopes have been developed that are appropriate for planetary exploration. Traditional light microscopy, interferometric microscopy, light-field microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, and electron microscopy are all possible techniques for the detection of extant micro-organisms on Mars and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. This article begins with a general discussion of the challenges involved in searching for prokaryotic life, then reviews instruments that have flown, that have been selected for flight but not flown or not flown yet, and developing techniques of great promise for life detection that have not yet been selected for flight.

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The Biological Oxidant and Life Detection (BOLD) mission: A proposal for a mission to Mars

Cited by 32 publications

References 75 publications

Geological and hydrological histories of the Argyre province, Mars

Geological and hydrological histories of the Argyre province, Mars

Physical and chemical mechanisms that impact the detection, identification, and quantification of organic matter and the survival of microorganisms on the Martian surface – a review

Imaging technologies and strategies for detection of extant extraterrestrial microorganisms

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