![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/IMG_3107-e1476564518890-300x225.jpg\")
Dr Manish Patel<\/p><\/div>\n
Dr Patel said: \u201cCOSPAR is the global committee for planetary protection, who regulate space exploration and they wanted confirmation. We were the independent third party given that task.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Testing the theory<\/h2>\n
Dr Patel\u2019s research, funded by the European Space Agency, looked at whether unsterilized material from Mars \u2013 which might therefore contain life \u2013 could be present on Phobos.<\/p>\n
Stringent laboratory tests were carried out to determine if micro-organisms could survive the transfer from Mars to Phobos \u2013 and therefore still be present when the Phobos extracts were brought to Earth.<\/p>\n
Dr Patel explained:<\/p>\n
\u201cIf life exists, or ever existed, on Mars, there is a possibility that material containing organisms could be present on Phobos and be collected by a sample return mission such as the Japanese Martian Moons eXplorer (MMX).\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Given the proximity of Phobos to Mars, Mars\u2019 potential to have supported life, and the possibility of material transfer from Mars to Phobos over millions of years, careful consideration of planetary protection is required, he said.<\/p>\n
Dealing with \u201cmajor unknowns\u201d the OU\u2019s lab-based team had to consider the \u201cbest-case scenario\u201d for organism survival, considering the size of sample the MMX mission would bring back. They then measured this against the COSPAR risk-reduction requirement \u2013 a probability of less than one in a million \u2013 to see whether it would remain compliant and match up with planetary protection rules.<\/p>\n
Replicating life on Mars<\/h2>\n
In the lab, the team used simulated or \u201cartificial\u201d samples of Mars and Phobos. They used a gun-like apparatus and a heating apparatus to \u201cshoot and burn\u201d these samples to replicate what would happen if they were thrown through space as a result of meteorite impact. They also did radiation tests to simulate how material on Phobos would be exposed to radiation from space, and combined the results using theoretical models.<\/p>\n
They determined that the transfer of life from Mars to Phobos through impact events resulted in a significant amount of unsterilized material on Phobos, but that radiation provides the most significant sterilizing factor on the Phobos surface, and would destroy micro-organisms.<\/p>\n
A million to one<\/h2>\n
The team combined all these tests with statistical modelling to determine the likelihood of unsterilized Mars material being present on Phobos. Summarising the results of the study, Dr Pearson, who led the heat tests at the OU, said: \u201cThe chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The OU-led team presented their research to the COSPAR panel, which met earlier this year at the United Nations. They used the findings to make a declaration of status and formally classified the mission as unrestricted, giving it clearance.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the Japanese missions Dr Patel said: \u201cThese missions are incredibly interesting to study the history of Mars, to find out key information and understand how the Mars system has evolved. For instance, we still don\u2019t know the origin of Mars\u2019 moons. So, this is a fantastic area of research to be involved in and will inform our own investigations too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The research is published here<\/a> in the journal Elsevier, Life Sciences in Space Research.<\/p>\n
Reference to ExoMars Mission. Dr Patel is co-leading an instrument on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter mission which is looking at the atmosphere of Mars to understand the evolution of the atmosphere and the possibility of life.<\/p>\n
Links:<\/p>\n
European Space Agency (ESA)<\/a><\/p>\n
The\u00a0ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO)<\/a>, which launched from\u00a0Baikonur, Kazakhstan<\/a>,<\/p>\n