Searching for Life on Mars on Earth

澳大利亚在研究行星宜居性方面继续发挥着世界领先的作用。该项目将对地球上已知的最古老的河流/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。利用候选人在实地调查方面的专业知识，并结合尖端的分析方法，该项目将产生对古代湖泊环境的详细重建。美国国家航空航天局即将在零度陨石坑着陆点执行的2020年火星漫游车任务将探索类似的环境。任务数据将由候选人分析，他将指导样本的选择，并解决火星上是否曾经存在微生物这一首要问题。

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.