DLR - Institute of Aerospace Medicine - Results of the BIOMEX experiment - Can organisms survive on Mars, and can we identify them?

Earth is a very special planet. It is the only celestial body in the Solar System on which we know life exists. Could there be life on other planets or moons? Mars is always the first to be mentioned in this context; it has many properties in common with Earth, and in its geological past water also flowed over its surface. Today, however, conditions on Mars are so extreme that it is hard to imagine that organisms like those found on Earth could survive on that cold and arid desert planet. One of the aims of the DLR-coordinated experiment BIOMEX (BIOlogy and Mars EXperiment) on the International Space Station (ISS) was to find out if this is indeed possible. The results are now available.

Raman spectroscopy able to detect biomolecules below surface of Mars

DLR - Can organisms survive on Mars

The BOSS and BIOMEX space experiments on the EXPOSE-R2 mission: Endurance of the desert cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis under simulated space vacuum, Martian atmosphere, UVC radiation and temperature extremes. - ScienceDirect

BIOMEX Experiment: Ultrastructural Alterations, Molecular Damage and Survival of the Fungus Cryomyces antarcticus after the Experiment Verification Tests

Study examines what microorganisms on Mars would need to survive

Fungal biomarkers are detectable in Martian rock-analogues after space exposure: implications for the search of life on Mars, International Journal of Astrobiology

Future space experiment platforms for astrobiology and astrochemistry research

Biosignature stability in space enables their use for life detection on Mars

Sustainable life support on Mars – the potential roles of cyanobacteria, International Journal of Astrobiology

Frontiers Metabolomic Profile of the Fungus Cryomyces antarcticus Under Simulated Martian and Space Conditions as Support for Life-Detection Missions on Mars

The BOSS and BIOMEX space experiments on the EXPOSE-R2 mission: Endurance of the desert cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis under simulated space vacuum, Martian atmosphere, UVC radiation and temperature extremes. - ScienceDirect

Microbes Could Survive Thin Air of Mars, News

BIOMEX Experiment on the ISS Indicates Some Forms of Life Can Survive in Space and on Mars