METHANE HYDRATE EXPLORATION ON MARS: A TEST BED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIES FOR PLANETARY EXPLORATION

NASA, along with its international partners, has developed a Mars exploration strategy, based on robotic missions, that extends well into the next decade. Because of its proximity to Earth, the abundant evidence for water, and the implications that water has for the development and persistence of life, Mars is also the next likely target for human exploration and colonization. As such, it will also serve as an important test bed for the development of techniques for deep biosphere exploration and resource evaluation for other bodies in the solar system. If the early evolution of the Earth and Mars followed similar paths, then it’s possible that methanogenic bacteria may have developed in the planet’s early aqueous surface and near-surface environment (Max & Clifford, 2000). During the transition of the early Martian hydrosphere to the colder conditions that characterize the planet today, such early life may have adapted to subpermafrost conditions similar to the present deep biosphere environment of the Earth. The potential existence of such a deep microbial biosphere on Mars has enormous implications for the potential development of life, and the availability of methanogenicly-produced resources, elsewhere in the solar syste