The search for organic carbon on Mars and preparation for Mars sample return

The search for extra-terrestrial life is one of the great quests of humanity. Recently organic molecules, one of the main building blocks of life, were discovered on Mars.

However, little is known about the origin of these organic molecules, whether they are infall from space to the surface of Mars or, abiotically or biotically produced on Mars.

Martian meteorites are the only Martian samples we have on Earth and previous analyses indicate that there are organic-rich carbon phases in these meteorites that may be of Martian origin.

The aim of this project is to investigate the organic inventory of Mars, the origin of these organic molecules and the carbon cycle on Mars.

This will be done through spatial mapping of organic phases in Martian meteorites by in situ mass spectrometric and spectroscopic techniques.

For this purpose, the proposed project, will develop new analysis protocols, including cataloguing the organic phases present in the meteorite, alongside their context and surrounding mineralogy and compare the obtained results against different hypotheses for the origin of these phases.

Insights from these analyses will not only improve our understanding of organic matter and carbon on Mars but also guide the development of analysis protocols for future samples returned from Mars.

Analyses of samples returned from Mars have the potential to revolutionize our ideas about the Universe, especially if Martian life is discovered.