The Helmholtz Alliance “Planetary Evolution and Life”
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Researching conditions for life on Earth and other planets
Can life develop on other planets? What conditions exist on other celestial bodies and in distant solar systems that might make this possible? How does a planet’s geological development affect the evolution of life, and vice versa?
These are the types of questions that the scientists in the Helmholtz Alliance “Planetary Evolution and Life”, lead by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are hoping to answer.
- Duration: April 2008 to March 2013
- Total funding: €16.75 million
- Lead centre: German Aerospace Center (DLR)
- Spokesperson: Prof. Tilman Spohn (DLR – Institute of Planetary Research)
- Participating Helmholtz Centres: DLR, AWI
- Partner institutes: Max Planck Institutes for Biogeochemistry and for Solar System Research, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Space Research Institute (IWF) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (AAS), Polar Geophysical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Service d’Aeronomie (CNRS), Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure
- Universities: FU, HU and TU Berlin, Münster, Duisburg-Essen, London South Bank University, Yale University
- Universities (with no grants): Pennsylvania State University, TU Braunschweig, TH Wildau
Programme
The scientists in the Helmholtz Alliance “Planetary Evolution and Life” look at planets as a whole, investigating everything from their atmospheres and magnetospheres to their inner structures. The work focuses on planets similar to the Earth such as Mars and Venus, some moons in our solar system such as Titan and Europa, and planets outside our solar system.
The scientists have been able to show that some bacterial and spore cultures can survive for several weeks in the current conditions on Mars. Studies also showed that water films around microbes remain intact even at temperatures as low as -20°C and under the atmospheric pressure on Mars. Furthermore, researchers found that certain minerals absorb moisture in the Martian atmosphere to produce a watery saline solution, which primitive organisms could use in their metabolism.
The Mars Express mission showed that, although Mars has long been the desert-like planet that it is today, at certain points in the past it did have localised water deposits in which life could have developed. However, proof of early life on Mars remains elusive. The Cassini-Huygens mission, using an infrared spectrometer, also discovered hydrocarbon rivers, lakes and seas on Titan. In addition, the Corot mission discovered the first “super Earth” outside our solar system. The planet CoRoT-7b has a radius approximately twice the size of Earth’s and a mass about five times that of Earth’s. It orbits the star CoRoT-7 and is located roughly 100 light years away in the Monoceros (Unicorn) constellation.
Further information:
Visit the website of the Helmholtz Alliance “Planetary Evolution and Life”
