Is there life on Mars? The Ames Research Center in the United States may not answer the question, but it is proposing sending terrestrial life to the "red planet.".
The proposal to NASA concerns sending plants to the surface of Mars, in conjunction with the next research mission. This is the MPX (Mars Plant Experiment) program, which will examine whether terrestrial life can handle the lack of gravity and high levels of radiation on Mars.
Of course, there will be no planting of plants on the Martian surface. Instead, the plan calls for the use of modified CubeSat microsatellite platforms, which will act as greenhouses.
There, about 200 seeds of the Arabidopsis plant (a relative of the mustard plant and the common cabbage) will be placed and Earth air will be enclosed. The frames will then be placed on the surface of the spacecraft exploring Mars, from which they will also receive the relative hydration.
The experiment is expected to test whether plants can grow and survive. More generally, MPX will be the next step in assessing whether Mars can be habitable.
The program, however, is still in the proposal stage for the US space agency. After all, the next mission of a spacecraft to the surface of Mars is expected to take place in 2020-2021. Thus, NASA is considering various proposals from a total of 58 different instruments that could be carried on this future mission.
It is worth noting that Curiosity, the vehicle currently on Mars, has only ten scientific instruments, so it is easy to see that of the 58 proposals, far fewer will be able to make the long-awaited space journey.
Source: naftemporiki.gr
