In its ancient past, Mars is believed to have had a similar climate to Earth, even flowing water at one time. Recent rover expeditions have targeted areas where water flowed across the surface, in search of evidence of past life. Scientists hope that exploration of Mars may provide clues as to the diversity and evolution of life on Earth, prospects for extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the galaxy, and the processes of planetary development and climate change.

If humanity is to become a multi-planet, spacefaring species, as many hope, Mars will be a stepping stone. As momentum grows for manned missions to Mars, it is imperative that conservation strategies to preserve sensitive off-world areas are developed and tested prior to launch.

The conservation of celestial bodies beyond Earth is called exogeoconservation, defined as “the identification of scientific, historic, aesthetic, ecological or cultural value in celestial bodies and in their component geological and geomorphological features, and the protection of such bodies and features.”

Mars has many sites that preserve evidence of paleo-environments, geological processes, planetary evolution, and potential evidence of life, all of which represent a priceless scientific resource. Some international guidelines have been drawn up concerning protecting celestial bodies from contamination with microbial life from Earth, but no similar framework currently exists to conserve geological resources. Significant damage to geoheritage sites may result from poorly designed scientific studies, compromising their value for future investigation.

A recent study by Clare Fletcher and colleagues from the Australian Center for Astrobiology (published in Planetary and Space Science) recently tested one such exogeoconservation strategy in a Mars analog environment in southern Utah.

The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), located northwest of Hanksville, is one of four simulated Mars habitats in the world. Here, the dry, bentonite hills offer an analog environment to Mars where crews troubleshoot the technology and the physical and psycho-social challenges and limitations that would face a crew sent to Mars. The all-volunteer crews are composed of 6-7 members, and include geologists, astrobiologists, engineers, mechanics, physicians, artists, and others who live for weeks to months in relative isolation, mimicking conditions that astronauts on a mission to the Red Planet would encounter. They live in a two-story, 8-meter diameter “habitat”, and venture outside only when wearing space suit (extra-vehicular activity, or EVA), where they carry out field research, most notably on methanogens (anaerobic microbes that produce methane byproducts) and endoliths (photosynthetic bacteria living inside rocks).

The Australian team developed and tested an exogeoconservation plan to study features surrounding MDRS that may yield evidence of life, prioritized based on the minimum number of viable sites to investigate (and minimize the number of EVAs) that would yield the maximum amount of data. They generated a list of “evolution of life targets”, or geological and biological features of interest, which they mapped, then cross-correlated to prioritize sites. They also created a decision tree to help crews decide whether or not to collect samples.

Some exogeoconservation strategies proved difficult to implement in the field. Space suits and gloves, for example, restricted use of some instruments to identify rocks, meaning extra samples had to be collected and taken back to the habitat. Battery life of the rover also compromised the thorough methodology of the decision tree, because crews were unsure if they would be able to return to a site, and therefore took additional samples that were not needed. Some small-scale features identified during planning were extremely difficult to find with GPS, and some landscape features prioritized for exploration proved too dangerous to access, wasting valuable time (and in a real Mars environment, oxygen and other resources). “Unless mitigated, conducting exogeoconservation work on Mars will be extremely difficult,” the authors wrote.” While geology may be predictable, evidence of life is not, which makes conserving evidence of life and its paleo and modern environmental context extremely challenging.”

These results highlight the need for more work to be done to develop better plans for future field research on Mars, including extensive planning prior to EVAs, and an improved model for exogeoconservation. Remote sensing, the authors note, does not provide enough information to adequately determine exogeoconservation sites at smaller scales. Detailed records of all field excursions, including photographs and notes, may help to narrow search targets and increase efficiency of field research. The authors recommend that trained geoconservationists are included as part of future Mars missions, to develop and apply specific techniques to the Martian environment.

 

Kevin Berend, Conservation Programs Manager

[Image credit: Intricate Explorer via Unsplash]

 

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