Irish scientists developing system that could prove if there is life on Mars

The first image of Mars taken by China's Tianwen-1 unmanned probe is seen in this image released by China National Space Administration. Photo: CNSA/Handout via Reuters

Eilish O'Regan

The first signs of life on Mars may be detected in future space missions using methods being developed by Irish researchers, it was claimed yesterday.

Scientists at Dublin City University (DCU) estimate our planet is 4.5 billion years old, and that the first signs of life here – created by microscopic organisms – were in ancient rocks, 3.7 billion years ago.

DCU professor Seán Jordan said: “The problem with the estimates of the earliest life forms is that the features created by these early organisms, which left physical imprints in these ancient rocks, could, I believe, have been created by some other process that does not involve any life forms.

“The investigations we are undertaking at DCU can provide a much better method for answering this important question with greater certainty,” added Dr Jordan, whose research has just been published in the scientific journal, Communications Earth and Environment.

Nasa is planning a Mars sample return mission in the 2030s.

This will involve returning samples of rock and dust to the Earth for analysis. At this point, it will be critical that science has a tried and trusted method for identifying the early signs of life in ancient samples.

“We urgently need to develop a sure-fire scientific method to identify the earliest signs of life in ancient rocks, and that was the focus of this new research,” Dr Jordan said. “Right now, when we are looking at tiny microstructures in ancient rocks, we can’t be sure whether they were made by early living things, or some non-living process.

“This non-living process may even be a sign of the chemical structures that lead to the origin of life.

“I’m developing methods to allow us to investigate exactly that. This is important because it will enable scientists to identify the first signs of life on Earth and possibly on other planets.”

Mars has previously been described as a wasteland, where temperatures fall to -153C during the winter, and the atmosphere is just 1pc the density of Earth’s and composed principally of carbon dioxide.

For the first billion years, it featured oceans and seas, protected by a thick blanket of air.

However, its magnetic field shut down, allowing the solar wind to take away the atmosphere and the water to disappear into space.