Is there life on Mars?
The Red Planet has been a constant subject of interest for scientists and common people as SpaceX looks forward to colonizing Mars in the future. For NASA's Mars Life Explorer, it will have to dig deep to resolve this long-standing question.
The most current planetary science decadal survey, a report provided by the U.S National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in April, earned resounding support for the deep-diving MLE, which would concentrate on searching for clues of existing life on Mars.
The major priorities for planetary science research over the next ten years are outlined in decadal assessments of the field, and at the top of the list is searching for life on Mars.
The paper recommends Mars Life Explorer as its next priority medium-class mission for the Mars Exploration Program following the Mars Sample Return mission's peak-spending phase.
If signs of extant life are there, the Mars Life Explorer might be able to find them in ice forms near the surface of the Red Planet. As planned, the lander would burrow into that ice, take samples, and conduct analyses on them from the actual site.
MLE might launch in the 2030s, touch down within a vertical meter (3.3 ft) of Martian mid-latitude ice, drill for samples up to 6.5 feet below the surface, and examine those samples on the spot, according to Space.com's report.
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