DLR - Institute of Aerospace Medicine - Results of the BIOMEX experiment - Can organisms survive on Mars, and can we identify them?

Earth is a very special planet. It is the only celestial body in the Solar System on which we know life exists. Could there be life on other planets or moons? Mars is always the first to be mentioned in this context; it has many properties in common with Earth, and in its geological past water also flowed over its surface. Today, however, conditions on Mars are so extreme that it is hard to imagine that organisms like those found on Earth could survive on that cold and arid desert planet. One of the aims of the DLR-coordinated experiment BIOMEX (BIOlogy and Mars EXperiment) on the International Space Station (ISS) was to find out if this is indeed possible. The results are now available.

BIOMEX Experiment on the ISS Indicates Some Forms of Life Can Survive in Space and on Mars

Investigation of fungal biomolecules after Low Earth Orbit exposure: a testbed for the next Moon missions - Cassaro - 2022 - Environmental Microbiology - Wiley Online Library

PDF) Lichens survive in space: results from the 2005 LICHENS experiment

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Raman spectroscopy able to detect biomolecules below surface of Mars

Biosignature stability in space enables their use for life detection on Mars

Biosignature stability in space enables their use for life detection on Mars

BIOMEX Experiment: Ultrastructural Alterations, Molecular Damage and Survival of the Fungus Cryomyces antarcticus after the Experiment Verification Tests

Fungal biomarkers are detectable in Martian rock-analogues after space exposure: implications for the search of life on Mars, International Journal of Astrobiology