Astrobiology, the search for life in our Universe, is one of the most exciting aspects of space exploration. Many robotic and even crewed missions will be sent to Mars in the coming years to aid in the search for life there. There are plans to explore satellites and bodies with icy exteriors and oceans in the outer Solar System. The Jovian satellites are included in the list.
Similar to how Mars has analyzed soil and rock samples for evidence of past life, the proposed missions will analyze liquid samples for the chemical signatures that we associate with life. A suite of eight scientific instruments designed to sniff out biosignatures has been designed by scientists at NASA. This suite could be used to search for signs of life across the Solar System in the future.
The search for evidence of life in the ocean world takes a long time. It's difficult to send probes to the outer Solar System and stay in contact with them despite communication delays. The probe's scientific equipment needs to be able to endure intense radiation and temperatures, as well as being able to take diverse, independent, and complimentary measurements that could provide clear and viable indications of biosignatures.
The OWLS suite can be found here. Several dozen people would need to work in a lab on Earth in order to analyze the liquid samples that the new device ingests. Pressure and temperature are used to extract samples from the front end of the suite. One of the subsystems breaks up the cells into their parts and the other uses microscopes to look for clues.
The OCEANS separates a wide range of molecule based on their charge, size, and mobility in the presence of an electric field. The three different units that are used for chemical analysis are the LIF unit, theMS unit, and the contactless.
TheELVIS is a multi-microscope system with no moving parts that conducts high-precision searches in a large sample volume at high resolution. The Digital Holographic Microscope can identify cells and motion in a sample. There are two fluorescent imagers that use dyes to mark chemical and cellular structures.
Machine learning is used to detect "lifelike" movement and objects illuminated by fluorescent molecule, whether this is natural or the result of dyes binding to certain parts of cells. This system will be the first in space to be able to image cells. It will be the second instrument system to perform liquid chemical analysis in space after the Microscopy,Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer.
Chris is the co-principal investigator of OWLS. He said it was like looking for a needle in a haystack without having to look at every piece of hay. We grabbed a lot of hay and said, "Oh, there's needles here, here, and here."
The prototype was tested on the salty waters of Mono Lake in California's Eastern Sierra. OWLS used its software to find evidence of life without the help of humans. The project's co-principal investigator and science lead said in a recent NASA press release.
Everyone on Earth is waiting with bated breath to see if there is evidence of life on a billion miles away. We wanted to make the most powerful instrument system you could design to look for both chemical and biological signs of life. The OWLS suite has been demonstrated. The next step is to modify and miniaturize it.
OWLS could be used for a lot of different missions in the future. There is a chance that OWLS could be used to sample water from the Enceladus eruptions. There is a chance that OWLS will be included in the Europa Clipper and Europa Lander missions. It could be used on the Dragonfly mission to get liquid samples from the methane lakes.
The field of Astrobiology is about to get a lot more interesting. There is a live NASA panel explaining the OWLS suite and how it will aid in the search for life.
There is further reading on NASA.
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