(NewsNation) — Once space explorers land on Mars, a new report says it’s imperative that they look for any signs of life on the Red Planet.
“The detection of life on Mars is a persistent top priority for explorers of many disciplines, and it is the top science objective in this report,” the U.S. National Academies of Sciences wrote in the report.
The report was prepared for NASA, which previously said it wants to send astronauts to the Red Planet sometime in the 2030s.
Besides searching for life, it also lays out 10 other objectives that NASA should explore once on the planet, which are:
- Characterize Mars’ water and carbon dioxide cycles
- Map Martian geology in detail
- Determine how the Martian environment affects the physical and psychological health of astronaut explorers
- Figure out what starts and drives Martian dust storms
- Determine the availability and accessibility of Martian resources that could “support permanent habitation”
- Discover if exposure to the Martian environment affects DNA and reproduction
- Learn about the population dynamics of microbes on Mars, and if microbial species from Earth could adversely affect astronauts’ health and performance on the Red Planet
- Determine how Martian dust affects astronauts and their hardware
- Learn how the Martian environment affects a transplanted ecosystem of Earth microbes, plants and animals
- Gain a better understanding of the Martian radiation environment and how it may affect crewmembers and their missions
The report also notes that a search for life on Mars will be constrained by current “planetary protection” guidelines, which aim to minimize the chances that any exploration efforts contaminate other worlds with Earth microbes or bring alien life to our shores.