Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), Torrejón de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain.
Sensors (Basel). 2020 Oct 29;20(21):6150. doi: 10.3390/s20216150.
Liquid water is well known as the life ingredient as a solvent. However, so far, it has only been found in liquid state on this planetary surface. The aim of this experiment and technological development was to test if a moss sample is capable of surviving in Martian conditions. We built a system that simulates the environmental conditions of the red planet including its hydrological cycle. This laboratory facility enables us to control the water cycle in its three phases through temperature, relative humidity, hydration, and pressure with a system that injects water droplets into a vacuum chamber. We successfully simulated the daytime and nighttime of Mars by recreating water condensation and created a layer of superficial ice that protects the sample against external radiation and minimizes the loss of humidity due to evaporation to maintain a moss sample in survival conditions in this extreme environment. We performed the simulations with the design and development of different tools that recreate Martian weather in the MARTE simulation chamber.
液态水是众所周知的生命成分，也是一种溶剂。然而，到目前为止，它只在行星表面的液态形式下被发现。这项实验和技术开发的目的是测试苔藓样本是否能够在火星条件下存活。我们构建了一个系统，模拟包括火星水循环在内的红色星球的环境条件。这个实验室设施使我们能够通过一个系统来控制水的三个相（液态、气态、固态）的循环，通过温度、相对湿度、水合作用和压力来控制向真空室注入液滴。我们成功地通过模拟水的凝结来模拟火星的白天和黑夜，并创造了一层浅表冰，以保护样本免受外部辐射，并最大限度地减少由于蒸发而导致的湿度损失，从而使苔藓样本在这种极端环境中保持存活条件。我们使用不同的工具进行了模拟，这些工具在 MARTE 模拟室中重现了火星的天气。
