Foreword: Mars Science Laboratory, the First Astrobiology Mission to Mars Since Viking

Abstract

The possibility of life on Mars has become a scientific issue of profound importance and of public interest. Since the Viking landings on Mars in 1976, our concepts of the limits to life and our expectation of the habitability of Mars have continued to expand. The modern era of Mars exploration has pursued the strategy of a progressive succession of orbital and landed missions to determine the processes at work on Mars, its record, and its biological potential. Results from these missions have transformed our imagined static lifeless desert planet to a dynamic planet, one that has the potential for life in the past and possibly even the present. Our exploration endeavors culminate with the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) landing on August 6, 2012. This mission will be the first roving analytical laboratory and considered the first astrobiology mission to Mars since Viking. The rover has ten instruments, including environmental sensors and a laboratory capable of determining elemental composition, mineralogy, and organic content of surface and near-surface samples. This mission will explore Gale Crater, and its 5 km high central peak, Mount Sharp, whose sediments will provide snapshots of environmental conditions of Mars as it transitioned from its earlier warmer and wetter periods through to a planet whose surface has became cold, dry, and acidic. The goal of the Mars Science Laboratory and its rover, Curiosity, is to explore a region of Mars and determine if that area was ever able to support microbial life and assess its potential for preservation of biosignatures. The objectives of the mission include: assessing the biological potential of the site by investigating organic compounds, other relevant elements, and biomarkers; characterizing geology and geochemistry, including chemical, mineralogical, and isotopic composition; investigating the role of water, atmospheric evolution, and modern weather/climate; and characterizing the spectrum of surface radiation. This mission is the most complex, sophisticated robotic planetary mission ever attempted and the next step in the Exobiology Strategy for Mars Exploration, as delineated in 1995. Although conceived before the 2003 launch of the intrepid geological explorers, Spirit and Opportunity, the objectives and capabilities of the planned astrobiology rover have un-