LASP Science Seminars

The search for ancient or current life on Mars begins with the search for surface and subsurface environments that are habitable. Before we begin this search in situ with robotic and human missions, it’s important to identify the likely habitable regions on Mars based on our existing knowledge of chemistry, thermodynamics, and atmospheric physics. This is the framework that drives our recent work in understanding habitable conditions on Mars.

In particular, we have focused on the possibility that brines may provide at least transient habitable conditions on Mars. We will present our recent work on the (meta)stability of brines on current Mars. Then we will discuss the ongoing work into possible habitable brine environments during the last 10 million years of Mars history.