WATCH: Scientist from NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission Look for Clues in Australian Outback

By  //  September 8, 2019

Pilbara Outback is home to the oldest confirmed fossilized lifeforms on Earth

NASA and European Scientists Explore Outback as Testbed for Mars: Scientists from NASA’s Mars 2020 mission and the European Space Agency-Roscosmos ExoMars mission are in the Australian Outback to hone research techniques before their missions launch to the Red Planet in summer 2020. They are hoping to better understand how to search for signs of ancient life on Mars. The Pilbara region of North West Australia is home to “stromatolites,” the oldest confirmed fossilized lifeforms on Earth. (NASA/JPL-Caltech video) 

(NASA) – In late August 2019, scientists from NASA’s upcoming Mars 2020 mission joined their counterparts from the joint European-Russian ExoMars mission in an expedition to the Australian Outback, one of the most remote, arid regions on the planet.

Both teams came to hone their research techniques before their missions launch to the Red Planet next summer in search of signs of past life on Mars.

The researchers know that any proof of past life on Mars will more than likely be almost microscopic in size. That’s where the Pilbara region of North West Australia comes in.

According to Mars 2020 project scientist Ken Farley: “The Pilbara Outback is home to the oldest confirmed fossilized lifeforms on Earth, called stromatolites. If we can better understand how these fossils came to be here — and the nearby geological signposts that help point the way to them — we’ll be that much more prepared when hunting for signs of life on Mars.”

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