NASA-WhatBiosignaturesDoesLifeProduce-20180625

MERMOZ (also, MERMOZ project and Monitoring planEtary suRfaces with Modern pOlarimetric characteriZation) is an

astrobiology Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investig ...

project designed to remotely detect biosignatures of life. Detection is based on molecular homochirality, a characteristic property of the

biochemical Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology an ...

s of

life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

. The aim of the project is to remotely identify and characterize life on the planet Earth from space, and to extend this technology to other solar system bodies and

exoplanet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

s. The project began in 2018, and is a collaboration of the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

and

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

. According to a member of the research team, “When light is reflected by biological matter, a part of the light’s electromagnetic waves will travel in either clockwise or counterclockwise spirals ... This phenomenon is called

circular polarization In electrodynamics, circular polarization of an electromagnetic wave is a polarization state in which, at each point, the electromagnetic field of the wave has a constant magnitude and is rotating at a constant rate in a plane perpendicular to t ...

and is caused by the biological matter’s homochirality.” These unique spirals of light indicate living materials; whereas, non-living materials do not reflect such unique spirals of light, according to the researchers. The research team conducted feasibility studies, using a newly designed detection instrument, based on circular spectropolarimetry, and named ''FlyPol+'' (an upgrade from the original ''FlyPol''), by flying in a helicopter at an altitude of and velocity of for 25 minutes. The results were successful in remotely detecting living material, and quickly (within seconds) distinguishing living material from non-living material. The researchers concluded: "Circular spectropolarimetry can be a powerful technique to detect life beyond Earth, and we emphasize the potential of utilizing circular spectropolarimetry as a remote sensing tool to characterize and monitor in detail the vegetation physiology and terrain features of Earth itself." The researchers next expect to scan the Earth from the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

(ISS) with their detection instruments. One consequence of further successful studies is a possible pathfinder space mission, scheduled to launch in 2024.

References

Astrobiology Astrochemistry Bioindicators Biology terminology Search for extraterrestrial intelligence {{Spacecraft-stub

See also

References