New strategies to detect life on Mars

The quest to determine whether life existed, or still exists, on Mars continues with several missions planned for the red planet by both the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the next few decades. One instrument designed for these missions is the Mars Organic Detector (MOD), which uses anew approach to achieve exceptionally high detection sensitivities and analysis capabilities for key bio-organic compounds. MOD is scheduled to fly in the ESA ExoMars mission earlynext decade and will attempt to answer the question of whether we are alone in the solar system. Here the MOD team explains why we have reason to be optimistic about uncovering the organic secrets of Mars.