Searching for Life on Mars on Earth

在地球上寻找火星上的生命

• 批准号: DE210100205
• 负责人: A/Prof David Flannery
• 金额: $ 25.8万
• 依托单位: Queensland University of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2021-05-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://dataportal.arc.gov.au/RGS/Web/Grants/DE210100205
• 关键词: Searching; Life; Mars; Earth

Australia continues to play a world-leading role in researching planetary habitability. This project will deliver the most comprehensive investigation of Earth’s oldest known river/lake deposits, uniquely preserved in 2.8 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. Using the candidate’s expertise in field investigation in combination with a cutting-edge analytical approach, the project will produce a detailed reconstruction of the ancient lake environment. Similar settings will be explored by NASA's upcoming Mars 2020 rover mission at it's landing site in Jezero Crater. Mission data will be analysed by the candidate, who will guide the selection of samples and address the overarching question of whether microbal life ever existed on Mars.

澳大利亚在行星宜居性研究方面继续发挥世界领先作用。该项目将对地球上已知最古老的河流/湖泊沉积物进行最全面的调查，这些沉积物独特地保存在西澳大利亚 28 亿年前的岩石中。该项目将利用候选人在实地调查方面的专业知识与尖端的分析方法相结合，对古代湖泊环境进行详细的重建。美国宇航局即将在 Jezero 陨石坑的着陆点进行 2020 年火星漫游车任务，也将探索类似的环境。候选人将分析任务数据，指导样本的选择并解决火星上是否曾经存在过微生物生命的首要问题。