Deep Trek: Science of Subsurface Habitability & Life on Mars

Whitepaper #250 submitted to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032. Topics: habitability and water; life and prebiotic organics; Mars

by Vlada Stamenkovic, Kennda Lynch, Penelope Boston, Jesse Tarnas, Charles D. Edwards, Barbara Sherwood-Lollar, Sushil Atreya, Alexis Templeton, Anthony Freeman, Woodward Fischer, Tilman Spohn, Chris Webster, Alberto G. Fairén, John (Jack) Mustard, Michael Mischna, Tullis C. Onstott, Magdalena Rose Osburn, Thomas Kieft, Robert E. Grimm, William B. Brinckerhoff, Sarah Johnson, Luther Beegle, James Head, Albert Haldemann, Charles Cockell, John Hernlund, Brian Wilcox, David Paige, Giuseppe Etiope, Daniel Glavin, Maria-Paz Zorzano, Yasuhito Sekine, Stalport Fabien, Joseph Kirschvink, Cara Magnabosco, Roberto Orosei, Matthias Grott, John D. Rummel, Atsuko Kobayashi, Fumio Inagaki, Janice Bishop, Vincent Chevrier, Mary Sue Bell, Beth N. Orcutt, Jennifer McIntosh, Katarina Miljkovic, Doris Breuer, Tomohiro Usui, Kris Zacny, Essam Heggy, Edgard G. Rivera-Valentín, Nathan J. Barba, Ryan Woolley, Oliver Warr, Mike Malaska, Jennifer G. Blank, Donald F. Ruffatto, Haley M. Sapers, Larry H. Matthies, Lewis Ward, Svetlana Shkolyar, Cedric Schmelzbach, Travis S. J. Gabriel, Ceth Parker, Hermes Hernan Bolivar-Torres, Bernadett Pál, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Jorge Andres Torres Celis, Akos Kereszturi, J. Andy Spry, Kyle Uckert, Marc A. Hesse, Rachel Harris, Ana-Catalina Plesa, Renyu Hu, Ali-akbar Agha-mohammadi, Brian D. Wade, Snehamoy Chatterjee, Patrick McGarey, Heather Valeah Graham, Shino Suzuki, Matt Schrenk, Kristopher Sherrill, Scott Howe, Raju Manthena, Mariko Burgin, Kalind Carpenter, Louis Giersch, Velibor Cormarkovic, Nigel Smith, Jeffrey J. McDonnell, Joseph Michalski, Devanshu Jha, Morgan L. Cable, Elodie Gloesener, Varun Paul, Stewart Gault, Sharon Kedar, Eloise Marteau, Orkun Temel, Seth Krieger, and Ryan Timoney

Published onMar 18, 2021

The Martian subsurface is one of the most promising places on Mars for life to still exist today. Despite this, we have yet to send a dedicated mission to investigate the modern-day subsurface habitability of Mars or to search for signs of extant subsurface life. A spectacular scientific opportunity awaits!

Deep Trek: Science of Subsurface Habitability & Life on Mars

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