Astronomdagar 2003

MarsExpress was successfully launched on June 2 this year, and is currently on the way to the red planet. One of the main objectives with the mission is to investigate local conditions for life (extant or extinct), primarily by studying the occurance and distribution of past and present water on the planet. MarsExpress consists of an orbiter and a lander (Beagle2), where the orbiter (among others carrying a Swedish instrument) will outline the distribution of water, map surface mineralogy and investigate atmospheric properties, including the interaction with the solar wind. The lander is set to study the geology of the landing site with an emphasis to investigate possible water-precipitated minerals, but also to search for possible signatures of past and present life.

However, detecting unambigous traces of life is not an easy task, and even though it is likely that past conditions on Mars were favourable in order for a possible biosphere to have emerged, it is unlikely that the instruments on Beagle2 could present convincing evidence for the existance of past or present life, even if it is, or once was, present on Mars.