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Linking Yellowstone Research to Mars ExplorationYellowstone's hydrothermal features and their associated communities of thermophiles are studied by scientists who are searching for evidence of life on other planets. The connection is extreme environments. If life originated in the extreme conditions thought to have been widespread on ancient Earth, it may well have developed on other planets and it might still exist today. The chemosynthetic microbes that thrive in some of Yellowstone s hot springs do so by metabolizing inorganic chemicals, a source of energy that does not require sunlight. Such chemical energy sources provide the most likely habitable niches for life on Mars or on the moons of Jupiter-Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto-where uninhabitable surface conditions preclude photosynthesis. Chemical energy sources, along with extensive groundwater systems (such as on Mars) or oceans beneath icy crusts (such as Jupiter's moons) could provide habitats for life. The study of stromatolites on Earth may also be applied to the search for life on other planets. If stromatolites are eventually found in the rocks of Mars or on other planets, we will have proven that life once existed elsewhere in the universe. Yellowstone National Park will continue to be an important site for studies at the physical and chemical limits of survival. These studies will give scientists a better understanding of the conditions that give rise to and support life, and they will learn how to recognize signatures of life in ancient rocks and on distant planets.
Document ID
20060015655
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
DesMarais, David J.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2006
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Meeting Information
Meeting: Annual Winter Astronomy Lecture Series Museum of the Rockies
Location: Bozeman, MT
Country: United States
Start Date: February 23, 2006
End Date: February 25, 2006
Funding Number(s)
OTHER: 344-53-3D
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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