2004-09-27 | MISSIONS
Atacama Rover Helps NASA Learn to Search for Life on Mars

A team of NASA-funded researchers are using a rover to search for scarce amounts of life that call Chile's Atacama Desert home. The researchers are studying the Atacama Desert, described as the most arid region on Earth, in order to understand the desert as a habitat that represents one of the limits of life on Earth. The project, part of NASA's Astrobiology Science and Technology Program for Exploring Planets, involves technology experiments to test robotic capabilities for mobility, autonomy and science. The technology being used could help scientists develop ways to search for primitive forms of life on Mars. The search for signs of past or present life on Mars is a major goal of astrobiology.

The extreme environment of the Atacama Desert not only makes it an excellent test bed for technologies that could be used on Mars missions, but also provides a unique opportunity to study life in an extreme environments on Earth. Determining the limits of life on Earth can tell us a great deal about what makes a planet habitable.

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