Our Mission
ALFA MARS AIMS TO DISCOVER IF THERE IS LIFE ON MARS BEFORE HUMANS FIRST ARRIVal.
Finding alien life would be the greatest discovery of all time.
ALFA MARS AIMS TO DISCOVER IF THERE IS LIFE ON MARS BEFORE HUMANS FIRST ARRIVal.
Finding alien life would be the greatest discovery of all time.
Astrobiological findings have led the scientists at ALFA Mars to declare that life might have emerged on Mars just as likely as it did on Earth. Remarkably, even if life emerged on only one planet, it was likely transported by impact ejecta to the other planet. Once life emerges or is seeded, it “finds a way” to survive, even as environments change on planetary scales, as they did on both Earth and Mars.
Current Mars exploration plans are inspiring. The scientific value of returning carefully collected samples from Jezero Crater, and the historic significance of the first human on Mars, cannot be overstated.
However, ALFA Mars believes that these plans fall short in one crucial area: the need for a comprehensive search for living microorganisms on Mars before humans set foot on the planet. Additionally, the scientific value of returned Martian samples will not change when picked up by our future astronauts, while human biological contamination will muddle a subsequent search for extant life. ALFA Mars plans to facilitate this search in concert with current exploration strategies, per decadal reporting standards.
MANY ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF “DNA” HAVE BEEN MADE IN THE LAB
The science team behind ALFA Mars is internationally renowned for its work making alternatives to DNA found on Earth. These alternatives teach us how Martian DNA must be similar to Earth DNA, and how it might be different. This research has taught us how to find Martians, even if they are very different from Earthlings.
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ALIEN DNA MUST HAVE A REPEATING BACKBONE CHARGE
One thing learned by our science team is that all alien DNA, including Martian DNA, must have a repeating charge. That charge may be negative, like Earthling DNA. That charge may be positive. But without multiple charges, the DNA cannot support Darwinian evolution. And without evolution, life cannot persist.
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HIGHLY CHARGED MARTIAN DNA IS EASY TO ISOLATE FROM WATER
Negatively charged DNA moves in an electric field towards a positive electrode. Positively charged polymers move towards a negative electrode. This separation technique is routinely done to separate biomolecules in labs and industry. Tons of Martian water will be mined in preparation for human visitors, from near surface glaciers that are exactly where Martian life may exist.
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Human missions to Mars will soon bring Earth life with them. This cannot help but make the search for indigenous Martians more difficult.
NASA astrobiology projects usually take 20 years from the idea to result. Because human missions to Mars may happen as soon as 2030, we cannot wait that long.
We must look for life now, before humans arrive.
Inspiration from the private Venus mission
The science team behind ALFA Mars has done something similar before. They participate in the Morning Star Missions to Venus, which organizes the first private interplanetary mission by Rocket Lab. Guided by our discoveries, the Morning Star Group is sending a probe to the Venusian clouds aboard the Electron Rocket in the next two years to seek fluorescent organic compounds (Ref. 1, 2, 3, 4).
NASA is not looking for extant life before 2040. Therefore, a nimble, privately funded mission offers the best, and maybe only, chance to find life on Mars before humans arrive.
Tons of ice must be mined on Mars to refuel return rockets before first humans leave Earth to Mars.
ALFA Mars will provide an instrument able to remotely detect life to anyone planning to mine Martian ice. With ALFA’s instrument, we will know whether there is an active biosphere on Mars before the first humans land.