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Mars Phosphorus and LifE

Descrizione del progetto

Laghi ricchi di carbonato che potrebbero fornire indizi fondamentali sull’origine della vita

Come ha avuto inizio la vita sulla Terra? Marte ha mai ospitato la vita? Secondo i risultati di alcune ricerche recenti, i laghi ricchi di carbonato potrebbero aver formato il miglior luogo per raccogliere gli elementi costitutivi chimici della vita. Finanziato dal programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, il progetto MaPLE intende condurre lavori sul campo, simulazioni in laboratorio, modellizzazione geochimica e analisi di dati derivati da missioni spaziali allo scopo di studiare il fosforo dissolto in un lago ricco di carbonato terrestre. Questo elemento si rivela essenziale per lo svolgimento dei processi organici. I risultati saranno raffrontati con dati provenienti dal rover Perseverance Marte 2020 della NASA, atterrato nel 2021 presso il cratere Jezero, uno dei pochi luoghi su Marte in cui sono stati individuati i carbonati.

Obiettivo

How did life first emerge on Earth? What type of environments did gather all the ingredients for life to occur? Did Mars ever host life? These challenging questions are the base of the Mars Phosphorus and LifE (MaPLE) project, outlined in this proposal. It emerges from the exciting idea that carbonate-rich lakes might have been terrestrial cradles of life, as very recently proposed, with strong implications for the inception of life on Mars. The MaPLE project is an interdisciplinary research that will be carried out at the Spanish Centre for Astrobiology (CAB), in Madrid. Field work, lab simulations, geochemical modelling and space missions data analysis will be combined to study dissolved phosphorus (P), the key element in all forms of life, in a terrestrial carbonate-rich lake, to approach the environmental conditions required for life on Earth and its applicability on early Mars. Results will be compared to data from the recently launched NASA Mars2020 mission, which will land at the Jezero crater in February 2021, one of the few places on Mars where carbonates have been identified. This makes the MaPLE project extremely timely and novel as it will be the first time that both Martian and terrestrial rocks, where life could have arisen, may be evaluated simultaneously. Results may open a new exciting line of investigation that sets carbonate-rich environments as preferential targets in future planetary missions to other planets or moons. This project will be carried out by F. Cañadas, who bets on a return strategy to Spain after a MSc and PhD in UK. It will bring her an exceptional opportunity to thrive in an exciting scientific environment, ideal to expand her solid geochemical background with complementary methodologies and personal skills. Altogether, the MaPLE project will place her in an extraordinary position to become an independent scientist of high international visibility in the very promising and rapidly growing field of Astrobiology.

Coordinatore

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Contribution nette de l'UE
€ 172 932,48
Indirizzo
CALLE SERRANO 117
28006 Madrid
Spagna

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Regione
Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid
Tipo di attività
Research Organisations
Collegamenti
Costo totale
€ 172 932,48