Sample Collection and Return from Mars: Optimising Sample Collection Based on the Microbial Ecology of Terrestrial Volcanic Environments

Cockell, Charles S.; McMahon, Sean; Lim, D. S. S.; Rummel, John D.; Stevens, Adam; Hughes, S. S.; Nawotniak, S. E. Kobs; Brady, A. L.; Marteinsson, V.; Martín‐Torres, Javier; Zorzano, María Paz; Harrison, Jesse Patrick

doi:10.1007/s11214-019-0609-7

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 127 publications

(142 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…, ambiguous cell motility, unique/patterned ice layering). Distinguishing between false positives in terrestrial samples (Cady et al , 2003 ; Cady and Noffke, 2009 ; Emerson et al , 2017 ; Reinhard et al , 2017 ; Harman and Domagal-Goldman, 2018 ; Neveu et al , 2018 ; Cockell et al , 2019 ) continues to be necessary for planetary analogues.…”

Section: Probability Of Life Detections: Moving Toward Life Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Proposed Geobiology-Driven Nomenclature for AstrobiologicalIn SituObservations and Sample Analyses

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As the exploration of Mars and other worlds for signs of life has increased, the need for a common nomenclature and consensus has become significantly important for proper identification of nonterrestrial/non-Earth biology, biogenic structures, and chemical processes generated from biological processes. The fact that Earth is our single data point for all life, diversity, and evolution means that there is an inherent bias toward life as we know it through our own planet's history. The search for life ''as we don't know it'' then brings this bias forward to decision-making regarding mission instruments and payloads. Understandably, this leads to several top-level scientific, theoretical, and philosophical questions regarding the definition of life and what it means for future life detection missions. How can we decide on how and where to detect known and unknown signs of life with a single biased data point? What features could act as universal biosignatures that support Darwinian evolution in the geological context of nonterrestrial time lines? The purpose of this article is to generate an improved nomenclature for terrestrial features that have mineral/microbial interactions within structures and to confirm which features can only exist from life (biotic), features that are modified by biological processes (biogenic), features that life does not affect (abiotic), and properties that can exist or not regardless of the presence of biology (abiogenic). These four categories are critical in understanding and deciphering future returned samples from Mars, signs of potential extinct/ancient and extant life on Mars, and in situ analyses from ocean worlds to distinguish and separate what physical structures and chemical patterns are due to life and which are not. Moreover, we discuss hypothetical detection and preservation environments for extant and extinct life, respectively. These proposed environments will take into account independent active and ancient in situ detection prospects by using previous planetary exploration studies and discuss the geobiological implications within an astrobiological context.

show abstract

Section: Probability Of Life Detections: Moving Toward Life Validationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Proposed Geobiology-Driven Nomenclature for AstrobiologicalIn SituObservations and Sample Analyses

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Microbial communities appear to have emergent properties (Prosser and Martiny, 2020), and despite ongoing challenges, the rules governing their assembly are gradually being unveiled due to advances in research areas such as molecular biology and bioinformatics (Mony et al ., 2020). The study of microbial communities in extreme environments and extraterrestrial analogues within a microbial ecology framework can also deepen the habitability discussion and potentially enhance astrobiology research protocols (Cockell et al ., 2019; Meslier and DiRuggiero, 2019). These concepts are relevant for exploring expected microbial communities like those on Mars subsurface brines, on ocean worlds like Europa or Enceladus or even on the clouds of Venus.…”

Section: Biological Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Astroecology: bridging the gap between ecology and astrobiology

Meurer,

Haqq-Misra,

Mendonça

2023

International Journal of Astrobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although astrobiology studies how life functions and evolves, ecology is still largely overlooked in astrobiology research. Here we present an argument for astroecology, a merger of ecology and astrobiology, a self-aware scientific endeavour. Ecology is rarely mentioned in influential documents like the NASA Astrobiology Strategy (2015), and terms such as ‘niche’ can end up being used in a less precise fashion. As ecology deals with sequential levels of organization, we suggest astrobiologically-relevant problems for each of these levels. Organismal ecology provides ecological niche modelling, which can aid in evaluating the probability that Earth-like life would survive in extraterrestrial environments. Population ecology provides a gamut of models on the consequences of dispersal, and if lithopanspermia can be validated as a form of space dispersal for life, then metabiospheres and similar astrobiological models could be developed to understand such complex structure and dynamics. From community ecology, the discussion of habitability should include the concept of true vacant habitats (a misnomer, perhaps better called ‘will-dwells’) and contributions from the blossoming field of microbial ecology. Understanding ecosystems by focusing on abiotic properties is also key to extrapolating from analogue environments on Earth to extraterrestrial ones. Energy sources and their distribution are relevant for ecological gradients, such as the biodiversity latitudinal gradient – would tropics be species-rich in other inhabited planets? Finally, biosphere ecology deals with integration and feedback between living and non-living systems, which can generate stabilized near-optimal planetary conditions (Gaia); but would this work for other inhabited planets? Are there ‘strong’ (like Earth) and ‘weak’ (perhaps like Mars) biospheres? We hope to show ecology can contribute relevant ideas to the interdisciplinary field of astrobiology, helping conceptualize further levels of integration. We encourage new partnerships and for astrobiologists to take ecology into account when studying the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe.

show abstract

“…Also this process of testing microsamples wouldn't even 'be guaranteed to detect a colony of life growing in the sample. As we'll see below, the life on Mars could be very uneven, as Cockell put it: (Cockell et al, 2019c) Every sample Is a 'microbial island'…”

Section: "Contrive a Purpose So Slender As To Define Competing `Reaso...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is harder to find traces of life from the distant past, and we don't know in advance where to look in the geological record for past life on Mars (Beaty, 2019) (Cockell et al, 2019c).…”

Section: Every Sample Is a 'Microbial Island'mentioning

confidence: 99%

NASA must protect Earth's biosphere even if Mars samples hold mirror life – motivating planetary protection with new scenarios like mirror life - survey of recent research relevant to a Mars sample return - and how to keep Earth's biosphere 100% safe with a miniature telerobotic lab above GEO, and protect other biospheres 100% with sterile robotic explorers

Walker¹

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the late 2020s to 2030s, China, and NASA / ESA and Japan plan to return samples from Mars. We need to keep Earth’s biosphere safe from any Martian microbes. Japan’s agency JAXA has the simplest mission, to return samples from the top few centimeters of Mars’s innermost moon Phobos. JAXA can safely return unsterilized samples without any precautions, because any microbes already withstood ejection from Mars, most recently, 700,000 years ago. Then on Phobos they were sterilized similarly to martian meteorites arriving at Earth today from that ancient impact.JAXA warned this meteorite argument is not valid for samples from the Martian surface. NASA’s draft EIS incorrectly says any life from Jezero crater can get here faster and better protected in a meteorite than in a sample tube. Surface dirt and dust can’t get here at all.NASA’s EIS also proposes to return its samples to a Biosafety Level 4 facility. However, the European Space Foundation study in 2012 set size limits well beyond capabilities of a BSL-4 and indeed beyond any current air filter capabilities.We can avoid all these issues and keep Earth 100% safe by sterilizing samples before they get here, with the equivalent of a few hundred million years of Mars surface ionizing radiation. This has virtually no effect on geology, while terrestrial contamination in Perseverance’s samples makes most astrobiology impossible.We can greatly increase science value with contamination free samples in a sterile container returned to a martian gravity centrifuge in an unmanned satellite above GEO, to start Sagan’s “vigorous program of unmanned exobiology”. This is a review of central results in planetary protection literature, with new worst case scenarios such as mirror life, to encourage space agencies to ensure Earth’s biosphere is adequately protected when they return samples from Mars.

show abstract

Sample Collection and Return from Mars: Optimising Sample Collection Based on the Microbial Ecology of Terrestrial Volcanic Environments

Cited by 8 publications

References 127 publications

A Proposed Geobiology-Driven Nomenclature for AstrobiologicalIn SituObservations and Sample Analyses

A Proposed Geobiology-Driven Nomenclature for AstrobiologicalIn SituObservations and Sample Analyses

Astroecology: bridging the gap between ecology and astrobiology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About