A dedicated team of scientists is spending the next four
weeks in northern Chile’s Atacama Desert. They are studying
the scarce life that exists there and, in the process,
helping NASA learn more about how primitive life forms could
exist on Mars.
The NASA funded researchers are studying the Atacama Desert,
described as the most arid region on Earth, to understand the
desert as a habitat that represents one of the limits of life
on Earth. The project, part of NASA’s Astrobiology Science
and Technology Program for Exploring Planets, involves
technology experiments to test robotic capabilities for
mobility, autonomy and science.
“Identifying living microorganisms and/or fossils in
environments where life’s density is among the lowest on the
planet should provide leads to establish detection criteria
and strategies for Mars or other planetary bodies,” explained
Dr. Nathalie Cabrol of NASA’s Ames Research Center (ARC),
Moffett Field, Calif. She is the project science lead and co-
investigator on the “Life in the Atacama” project.
Scientists from ARC, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh,
the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn., and the
Universidad Catolica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile, are
participating in the study. Scientists are scheduled to
conduct their investigation and field experiments in the
Atacama through Oct. 21.
They are using Zoe, an autonomous, solar-powered rover
developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics
Institute. During the mission, Zoe is expected to travel
about two kilometers (1.24 miles) daily and provide panoramic
and close-up images.
Zoe will employ a variety of other scientific instruments to
explore the remote desert. The instruments include a visible-
to-near-infrared spectrometer and a fluorescence microscopic
imager developed by Carnegie Mellon’s Molecular Biosensor and
Imaging Center.
“Our goal is to make genuine discoveries about life and
habitats in the Atacama and to create technologies and
methods that can be applied to future NASA missions,” said
David Wettergreen, an associate research professor at
Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute. He is leading robotics
research for the Life in the Atacama project.
The first phase of the project began in 2003, when a solar-
powered robot named Hyperion, also developed at Carnegie
Mellon, was taken to the Atacama. Scientists conducted
experiments with Hyperion to determine the optimum design,
software and instrumentation for a robot for extensive
investigations during 2004-05 of desert life. Zoe and its
instrument payload are the result of the first year’s
research.
“The project is going a step further by trying to understand
if signatures of microbial life can be unambiguously detected
remotely using a robotic platform,” Cabrol said. “These
robots and science payloads will be a wonderful precursor to
human exploration and excellent ‘astronaut/astrobiology
assistants’ when the time comes for human missions,” she
added.
Scientists also plan to map the habitats of the area,
including its morphology, geology, mineralogy, texture,
physical and elemental properties of rocks and soils;
document how life modifies its environment; characterize the
geo- and biosignatures of microbial organisms and draft
science protocols to support a discovery of life. ARC
scientist Chris McKay is conducting a long-term ecological
study of the Atacama as a Mars analog environment.
Scientists using EventScope, a remote experience browser
developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s Studio for
Creative Inquiry, will guide Zoe. EventScope enables
scientists to experience the Atacama environment through the
eyes and various sensors of the rover. The public can access
the same kind of data experienced by scientists by
downloading the EventScope interface from the Internet at:
http://www.eventscope.org/atacama
For information, images and field reports from the Atacama on
the Internet, visit:
