NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Solar-driven chemical energy source for a Martian biotaMicroorganisms deep in the Martian soil could derive energy indirectly from the sun via chemical reactions involving atmospheric photolysis products of the solar ultraviolet flux. The Viking discovery of a chemically uniform regolith which, though poor in organics, is rich in sulfur-containing compounds suggests reaction sequences in which sulfur is recycled through reduced and oxidized states by biologically catalyzed reactions with photochemically-produced atmospheric constituents. One candidate reaction, reduction of soil sulfate minerals by molecular hydrogen, is already exploited on earth by bacteria of the ubiquitous and tenacious Desulfovibrio genus.
Document ID
19790062451
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Clark, B. C.
(Martin Marietta Aerospace, Planetary Sciences Laboratory, Denver Colo., United States)
Date Acquired
August 9, 2013
Publication Date
July 1, 1979
Publication Information
Publication: Origins of Life
Volume: 9
Subject Category
Space Biology
Accession Number
79A46464
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS1-9000
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available