[P-PS02_28AM2] Mars

★ [PPS02-06] Life Detection Microscope: Search for Microbes on the Mars Surface with a Fluorescent Microscope

*Akihiko YAMAGISHI¹, Takehiko SATOH², Keigo ENYA², Atsuo MIYAKAWA¹, Satoshi SASAKI³, Yoshitaka YOSHIMURA⁴, Hajime HONDA⁵, Hirohide DEMURA⁶, Eiichi IMAI⁵, Tomohiro USUI⁷, Kazuhisa FUJITA⁸, Genya ISHIGAMI⁹, Takashi OZAWA⁸, Sohsuke OHNO¹⁰, Sho SASAKI¹¹, Hideaki MIYAMOTO¹² (1.Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, 2.ISAS/JAXA, 3.Tokyo University of Technology, 4.Tamagawa University, 5.Nagaoka Univ. Tech., 6.The University of Aizu, 7.Tokyo Institute of Technology, 8.JAXA, 9.Keio University, 10.Chiba Institute of Technology, 11.Osaka University, 12.The University of Tokyo)

Keywords:Mars, Life search, Fluorescence microscope, Microbe, Organic compounds

Past trial of direct detection of life on Mars by 1970's Viking mission reported a negative conclu-sion, whereas numbers of circumstances provided by recent Mars exploration missions in the last dec-ade indicate that there are good reasons to perform another life detection program.Here we propose Life Detection Microscope that has much higher sensitivity than the instrument onboard Viking. Indeed Life Detection Microscope (LDM) that we propose here could detect less than 104 cells in 1 gram clay. Our life detecting instru-ment has the sensitivity that is three orders of mag-nitude higher than the one onboard Viking that issued the negative conclusion. LDM is capable of identifying what we think to be the most fundamen-tal features that a cell should possess to constitute life.Our Investigation Goals are:1: High-resolution characterization of regolith and dust particles.2: Search for any type of organic compounds in Mars surface samples. The compounds include cells, other biological materials, and abiotic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH).3: Identify cell-like structure in which organic compounds are enveloped by membrane, which may represent Martian life.