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Is there life on Mars, and will he like to be photographed?
A rover built in Britain is about to look for signs of life on the red planet, with the help of a camera chasing extraterrestrials, the UK Telegraph reported on Monday.
The ExoMars vehicle of the European Space Agency is scheduled to land on March 19, 2021 and will begin to search the Martian surface for traces of extraterrestrials about 10 days later – with a "Pan-Cam" designed by researchers from the University College London.
Mounted at the top of the rover, the "Pan-Cam" system will use special filters to scan the surface of the planet for minerals that would prove a liquid capable of supporting organisms on Mars.
If an aqueous spot is discovered, the machine will go on site and dig six and a half feet to take samples.
Fragments of Martian rock will then be routed through a hole in the rover to a mobile laboratory where they will be crushed and subjected to organic matter testing.
Any evidence of life or past life could occur a few months after landing the vehicle.
"Mars was once covered with water, just like the Earth," said Mary Carter, Pan-Cam project manager at UCL. "At the same time, life was growing on Earth [so] potentially, life could have developed on Mars. "
Airbus engineers in Hertfordshire will install the "Pan-Cam" system on the rover this week, before testing it in Toulouse, France, later this month.
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