Present-day thermal and water activity environment of the Mars Sample Return collection.

The Mars Sample Return mission intends to retrieve a sealed collection of rocks, regolith, and atmosphere sampled from Jezero Crater, Mars, by the NASA Perseverance rover mission. For all life-related research, it is necessary to evaluate water availability in the samples and on Mars. Within the first Martian year, Perseverance has acquired an estimated total mass of 355 g of rocks and regolith, and 38 μmoles of Martian atmospheric gas.

Geochemical characterization of the Martian analogues Enekuri and Fruiz, located in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin, by spectroscopic techniques.

This work presents the geochemical characterization of two Martian analogues located in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin: Enekuri and Fruiz. In contrast to previous works carried out on the coastline analogues Meñakoz and Armintza (Biscay, Spain), these new outcrops are not in contact with sea-water nowadays. Hence, the weathering processes observed in Enekuri and Fruiz (inland) are different from those observed in Armintza and Meñakoz (coastline).

LZS-1, Lanzarote (Canary Island, Spain) lunar (Apollo 14) basaltic soil simulant.

The search for Terrestrial Analogues is essential for the development of future permanent or semi-permanent lunar bases. Terrestrial Analogues are zones where it is possible to probe not only scientific instruments, but also other astronaut capabilities in an environment that is similar to the geological context, geomorphology, mineralogy, geochemistry, etc. that we can find on Mars, the Moon and even asteroids.

Habitability Models for Astrobiology.

Habitability has been generally defined as the capability of an environment to support life. Ecologists have been using Habitat Suitability Models (HSMs) for more than four decades to study the habitability of Earth from local to global scales. Astrobiologists have been proposing different habitability models for some time, with little integration and consistency among them, being different in function to those used by ecologists.

Origin of Life on Mars: Suitability and Opportunities.

Although the habitability of early Mars is now well established, its suitability for conditions favorable to an independent origin of life (OoL) has been less certain. With continued exploration, evidence has mounted for a widespread diversity of physical and chemical conditions on Mars that mimic those variously hypothesized as settings in which life first arose on Earth. Mars has also provided water, energy sources, CHNOPS elements, critical catalytic transition metal elements, as well as B, Mg, Ca, Na and K, all of which are elements associated with life as we know it.

Combined Spectroscopic Analysis of Terrestrial Analogs from a Simulated Astronaut Mission Using the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Raman Sensor: Implications for Mars.

One of the primary objectives of planetary exploration is the search for signs of life (past, present, or future). Formulating an understanding of the geochemical processes on planetary bodies may allow us to define the precursors for biological processes, thus providing insight into the evolution of past life on Earth and other planets, and perhaps a projection into future biological processes. Several techniques have emerged for detecting biomarker signals on an atomic or molecular level, including laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Raman spectroscopy, laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy, and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy, each of which addresses complementary aspects of the elemental composition, mineralogy, and organic characterization of a sample.

The SuperCam Instrument Suite on the NASA Mars 2020 Rover: Body Unit and Combined System Tests.

The SuperCam instrument suite provides the Mars 2020 rover, Perseverance, with a number of versatile remote-sensing techniques that can be used at long distance as well as within the robotic-arm workspace. These include laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), remote time-resolved Raman and luminescence spectroscopies, and visible and infrared (VISIR; separately referred to as VIS and IR) reflectance spectroscopy. A remote micro-imager (RMI) provides high-resolution color context imaging, and a microphone can be used as a stand-alone tool for environmental studies or to determine physical properties of rocks and soils from shock waves of laser-produced plasmas.

Lichen Vitality After a Space Flight on Board the EXPOSE-R2 Facility Outside the International Space Station: Results of the Biology and Mars Experiment.

As part of the Biology and Mars Experiment (BIOMEX; ILSRA 2009-0834), samples of the lichen were placed on the exposure platform EXPOSE-R2, on the International Space Station (ISS) and exposed to space and to a Mars-simulated environment for 18 months (2014-2016) to study: (1) resistance to space and Mars-like conditions and (2) biomarkers for use in future space missions (Exo-Mars). When the experiment returned (June 2016), initial analysis showed rapid recovery of photosystem II activity in the samples exposed exclusively to space vacuum and a Mars-like atmosphere. Significantly reduced recovery levels were observed in Sun-exposed samples, and electron and fluorescence microscopy (transmission electron microscope and field emission scanning electron microscope) data indicated that this was attributable to the combined effects of space radiation and space vacuum, as unirradiated samples exhibited less marked morphological changes compared with Sun-exposed samples.

Limits of Life and the Habitability of Mars: The ESA Space Experiment BIOMEX on the ISS.

BIOMEX (BIOlogy and Mars EXperiment) is an ESA/Roscosmos space exposure experiment housed within the exposure facility EXPOSE-R2 outside the Zvezda module on the International Space Station (ISS). The design of the multiuser facility supports-among others-the BIOMEX investigations into the stability and level of degradation of space-exposed biosignatures such as pigments, secondary metabolites, and cell surfaces in contact with a terrestrial and Mars analog mineral environment. In parallel, analysis on the viability of the investigated organisms has provided relevant data for evaluation of the habitability of Mars, for the limits of life, and for the likelihood of an interplanetary transfer of life (theory of lithopanspermia).

Drying bacterial biosaline patterns capable of vital reanimation upon rehydration: novel hibernating biomineralogical life formations.

Water is the fundamental molecule for life on Earth. Thus, the search for hibernating life-forms in waterless environments is an important research topic for astrobiology. To date, however, the organizational patterns containing microbial life in extremely dry places, such as the deserts of Earth, the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, or Mars analog regolith, have been poorly characterized.

Isotope ratios of H, C, and O in CO2 and H2O of the martian atmosphere.

Stable isotope ratios of H, C, and O are powerful indicators of a wide variety of planetary geophysical processes, and for Mars they reveal the record of loss of its atmosphere and subsequent interactions with its surface such as carbonate formation. We report in situ measurements of the isotopic ratios of D/H and (18)O/(16)O in water and (13)C/(12)C, (18)O/(16)O, (17)O/(16)O, and (13)C(18)O/(12)C(16)O in carbon dioxide, made in the martian atmosphere at Gale Crater from the Curiosity rover using the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)'s tunable laser spectrometer (TLS). Comparison between our measurements in the modern atmosphere and those of martian meteorites such as ALH 84001 implies that the martian reservoirs of CO2 and H2O were largely established ~4 billion years ago, but that atmospheric loss or surface interaction may be still ongoing.

FTIR reflectance of selected minerals and their mixtures: implications for ground temperature-sensor monitoring on Mars surface environment (NASA/MSL-Rover Environmental Monitoring Station).

The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) is one of NASA/MSL's instruments, which has been designed for measuring ambient pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, UV radiation, and air and ground temperature (GT). The GT-sensor is dedicated to measure the real temperature of the Martian surface, integrating the IR energy coming from the ground. The existing IR spectral data of Martian dust, rocks and sediments allow for comparing the Martian spectra with the spectra of different terrestrial minerals and lithologies, and those of their alteration and weathering products.

The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station Ground Temperature Sensor: a pyrometer for measuring ground temperature on Mars.

We describe the parameters that drive the design and modeling of the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) Ground Temperature Sensor (GTS), an instrument aboard NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, and report preliminary test results. REMS GTS is a lightweight, low-power, and low cost pyrometer for measuring the Martian surface kinematic temperature. The sensor's main feature is its innovative design, based on a simple mechanical structure with no moving parts.

The subsurface geology of Río Tinto: material examined during a simulated Mars drilling mission for the Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment (MARTE).

The 2005 Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment (MARTE) project conducted a simulated 1-month Mars drilling mission in the Río Tinto district, Spain. Dry robotic drilling, core sampling, and biological and geological analytical technologies were collectively tested for the first time for potential use on Mars. Drilling and subsurface sampling and analytical technologies are being explored for Mars because the subsurface is the most likely place to find life on Mars.

The 2005 MARTE Robotic Drilling Experiment in Río Tinto, Spain: objectives, approach, and results of a simulated mission to search for life in the Martian subsurface.

The Mars Astrobiology Research and Technology Experiment (MARTE) simulated a robotic drilling mission to search for subsurface life on Mars. The drill site was on Peña de Hierro near the headwaters of the Río Tinto river (southwest Spain), on a deposit that includes massive sulfides and their gossanized remains that resemble some iron and sulfur minerals found on Mars. The mission used a fluidless, 10-axis, autonomous coring drill mounted on a simulated lander.

New application of microwave digestion-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry for multi-element analysis in komatiites.

A new method using microwave digestion combined with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was studied to analyze the elemental composition of a variety of komatiites samples. Microwave digestion consisted in two-stage heating and pressurizing acid treatments for maximum dissolution of the samples. We report here different quality control measurements (external and internal calibration, monitoring of reference materials) which involve standard deviation calculations and recovery examinations in order to test the precision and accuracy of the analytical procedure.

Monitoring the fall of large atmospheric ice conglomerations: a multianalytical approach to the study of the Mejorada del Campo megacryometeor.

Certain local atmospheric anomalies, such as the formation of unusually large ice conglomerations (megacryometeors), have been proposed to be a potential natural hazard for people and aviation, as well as geoindicators for fingerprinting larger-scale atmospheric environmental changes. On March 13th 2007, at approximately 10:15 am, an ice chunk weighing about 10 kg fell from the clear-sky and crashed through the roof (around 15 m) of an industrial storage house in Mejorada del Campo, a town located 20 km east from Madrid. The megacryometeor monitoring follow-up and the original investigation presented here includes, for the first time, both logistic and scientific collaboration between the Laboratory of the Environment, Criminalistic Service (SECRIM, the Spanish "Guardia Civil") and academic and scientific institutions (universities and the Spanish National Research Council).

Sulphate efflorescent minerals from El Jaroso Ravine, Sierra Almagrera--An SEM and Raman spectroscopic study.

Two sulphate efflorescent evaporite mineral samples from Jaroso, Spain have been studied by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. SEM by comparison with known minerals shows the evaporite mineral is a mixture of halotrichite and jarosite, whilst the oxidised mineral is predominantly jarosite. SEM characterises the halotrichite as long narrow crystals and the jarosite as distorted rhombohedral crystals.

A review of the contributions of Albert Einstein to earth sciences--in commemoration of the World Year of Physics.

The World Year of Physics (2005) is an international celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Einstein's "Annus Mirabilis." The United Nations has officially declared 2005 as the International Year of Physics. However, the impact of Einstein's ideas was not restricted to physics.

Raman spectroscopy of halotrichite from Jaroso, Spain.

Raman spectroscopy complimented with infrared ATR spectroscopy has been used to characterise a halotrichite FeSO(4) x Al(2)(SO(4))(3) x 22 H(2)O from The Jaroso Ravine, Aquilas, Spain. Halotrichites form a continuous solid solution series with pickingerite and chemical analysis shows that the jarosite contains 6% Mg(2+). Halotrichite is characterised by four infrared bands at 3569.

Iron meteorites can support the growth of acidophilic chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms.

Chemolithoautotrophy based on reduced inorganic minerals is considered a primitive energy transduction system. Evidence that a high number of meteorites crashed into the planet during the early period of Earth history led us to test the ability of iron-oxidizing bacteria to grow using iron meteorites as their source of energy. Here we report the growth of two acidophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria, Leptospirillum ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, on a piece of the Toluca meteorite as the only source of energy.