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The NASA space agency is perfecting the advanced drilling technology needed to conclusively prove the existence of life on Mars, Express.co.uk might reveal.
And the mission, dubbed Mars Deep Drill, is expected to begin on the red planet in the next decade.
Brian Wilcox, NASA space robotics technology leader and JPL member, expressed his optimism about the possibility of finding extraterrestrial life under Martian soil.
Mr. Wilcox said: "A recent presentation from the National Academy of Science has revealed that the most important thing we can do in astrobiology is to look at the basement of a planet.
"On the surface of Mars, there is no liquid water and there is a lot of radiation, which would kill any life you can imagine, because it would break the genetic material very quickly.
I would expect to find life underground on Mars because we see traces of water once on its surface
"But the basement of Mars is an attractive living environment – we know that there is a thermal gradient because there are naturally occurring radioactive isotopes, such as uranium, that give off heat when it is cold. they disintegrate.
"It means that at a certain depth you will reach the point where the ice turns into liquid water.
"And we often think that liquid water is necessary for life – most planetary scientists on the ground are in agreement on this point.
"It is now thought that there is a depth of liquid water on Mars and that this depth is less than 10 km – it could even be less than one kilometer."
Mars Deep Drill: NASA has revealed a bold plan to search for life on Mars (Image: Getty)
Mars Deep Drill: NASA revealed its intention to drill 10 km on Mars (Image: NASA)
Adding to the evidence that simple living could flourish in space, it is the news that the majority of life on earth is underground.
NASA scientists for 35 years said, "I would expect to find life underground on Mars because we see traces of water that once existed on the surface of Mars.
"Life does not necessarily need or even need sunlight.
"Sunlight has ultraviolet rays that break down molecules, so light can be harmful to very simple life forms.
"Being in the dark at night is what life likes to do. He likes to be hot and humid and that's where life likes to thrive. "
The mechanics of the quartz fused silica wire drill for use in the mission are surprisingly basic – although it weighs less than 100 kg, because of the strict weight restrictions necessary for spaceflight
This is achieved by significantly narrowing the material so that the resulting hole measures only 2-3 cm in diameter.
And the ground debris from the hole will then be removed with the help of a robotic ball bucket, before being analyzed to look for traces of life.
Mr. Wilcox explained oOne of the most ingenious aspects of the mission is the way the system uses a combination of solar light and Mars atmosphere to reach the 100 watts required to power two parts of the system.
He said: "The system is powered by liquid carbon dioxide because it is the only fluid we have access to.
"We are going to use it as a hydraulic fluid by compressing CO2 and forcing it to go from a gas to a liquid because of the temperatures on Mars and when it is released as a gas that becomes a gas again."
Mars Deep Drill: NASA's mission will fly to the red planet in the next decade (Image: Getty / NASA)
Mars Deep Drill: the basement of Mars is a surprisingly livable environment (Image: Getty / NASA)
And CO2 will also be used to chase broken rock from the forest, he explained.
He said: "Deep drilling requires that the drill is kept clean and lubricated and that the cuttings are removed.
"The good thing about CO2 is that when it is released, it turns into gas once released. It expands more than a hundred times. This expansion sweeps the bit cuttings and this high-speed gas drives the cuttings into the bale cup. . "
The sterilization of the equipment is of vital importance – it's one of the main lessons learned from Viking Lander's mission on Mars in the 1970s, according to the engineer from NASA.
He said: "The Treaty on International Space requires the prevention of contamination of other planets by earthly life.
"What we do not want is to discover one day in the future that thecolifor example, it was unleashed inadvertently all over the planet, destroying all life that was there.
"So much attention has been paid to the sterilization of everything without the shadow of a doubt.
"The Viking lander, who was looking for life on Mars for the first time in the 1970s, was heated to about 130 ° C for 48 hours – at that time, it was still not understood that there was organisms that really grew in these conditions, like in Yellowstone. Know now that the temperature is insufficient.
"Our current prototype is capable of operating at 300 ° C.
"We want a zero risk of contamination of the underground environment of Mars, especially if we encounter liquid water."
Mars Deep Drill: The most important thing to do in astrobiology is to examine the basement of a planet (Image: Getty / NASA)
Mars Deep Drill: NASA plans to transport the miniature drill with a Martian rover (Image: Getty / NASA)
When asked to predict what life would look like, the JPL engineer said, "We're probably not talking about photosynthetic life, it's a life form that lives on a chemical imbalance.
"It would be the same kind of life we find around hydrothermal vents in mid-ocean ridges.
"This kind of life is fueled by combining them and extracting the energy from the chemicals.
"We believe that it is entirely possible."
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