The journey for the search of Martian life is not yet over, and it will soon take NASA to discover any sign of life behind the swath of rocky landscape. The long years and decades of waiting are over.
This after scientists of NASA discovered a way to search for any sign of life on Mars. The technology which was invented was designed to "sniff out" molecules and analyze the dust on the surface of the red planet that could provide reliable evidence and indication "biosignatures."
The new instrument is called a Bioindicator LiDAR instrument or BILI is inspired by a sensor used by the U.S. military to detect any dangerous chemicals in the air. The light detection and ranging (lidar) are used to detect speed, distance, and direction of an object from a very far distance. It uses a similar principle as radar but, unlike radar that uses radio waves, lidar achieves the same feat using lights.
In other words, BILI could be used to detect and analyze particle composition with the use of the ultraviolet laser beams which emits and bounces back information on the object that it's looking at.
For years, NASA has been using fluorescence instruments to detect chemicals present in the Earth's atmosphere for climate studies research purposes. And this is the first that the agency uses such kind of tool for planetary ground level exploration.
Finding Life in Mars with BILLI
According to Christian Science Monitor's report, the new device is very efficient because it uses electricity to a function which means that it can cover large areas at a time. It can also detect bio-particles and can find small real-time levels of complex organic materials from hundreds of meters away.
With the new device, NASA can search for bio-signatures in any recurring slopes or areas which are not easily traversed by a rover carrying several instruments for chemical and biological analysis. Also, BILLI can also do a ground-level aerosol analysis which reduces the risk of sample contamination.
