Searching for Life on Iceland and Mars

by Hans Mühlen 7 Nov 2013 Physics, Astronomy
Published in the "Nordic News" section of Nordita News issue 3, 2013

If you plan to travel to Mars, you should first go to Iceland, the next best thing. In July, a team of four UK scientists, combining expertise in geology, remote sensing and engineering, decided to test this old adage. They took a prototype of the Panoramic Camera (PanCam) instrument, which will form a major component of the European Space Agency's 2018 ExoMars rover, with them to the Krafla volcanic region of northern Iceland. Here the terrain and the mineral composition is similar to some that have been identified on Mars, and some of the terrestial environments are home to thriving microbial communities. This makes this location an ideal site for testing instruments that will be on future astrobiology missions, like the ExoMars mission. The wide-angle and high-resolution cameras of the PanCam were tested, as well as the mineral sampling and spectroscopic analysis capabilities. These various data source will enable planetary scientists to carry out geological investigations of terrain surrounding the rover, once it is on the surface of Mars. [Read more...]