Earth to Mars: A multiphasic protocol for characterizing permafrost microbes as an analog for extraplanetary exploration ...

• Main Author: Miner, Kimberley
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Root 2023
• Subjects: Kya; Perseverance; permafrost
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48577/jpl.td1jeb; https://dataverse.jpl.nasa.gov/citation?persistentId=doi:10.48577/jpl.TD1JEB

Permafrost is important from an exobiology and climate change perspective. It serves as an analog for extraplanetary exploration and it threatens to emit globally significant amounts of greenhouse gases as it thaws due to climate change. Viable microbes survive in Earth’s permafrost, slowly metabolizing and transforming organic matter through geologic time. Ancient permafrost microbial communities represent a crucial resource for gaining novel insights into survival strategies adopted by extremotolerant organisms in extraplanetary analogs. We present a proof-of-concept study on ~22 Kya permafrost to determine the potential for coupling Raman and Fluorescence biosignature detection technology from the NASA Mars Perseverance Rover with microbial community characterization in frozen soils, which could be expanded to other Earth and off-Earth locations. Besides the well-known utility for biosignature detection and identification, our results indicate that spectral mapping of permafrost could be used to rapidly ...