The Search Squad: Missions Searching for Life Quiz

If liquid water is the universal solvent required for all known biological chemistry, and if scientists want to maximize the probability of finding life, then they must target environments where liquid water is or was stable.

If biological activity can also leave physical traces like microfossils or isotopic imbalances, and if missions searching for life utilize multiple lines of evidence, then chemical biosignatures are only one of several indicators used.

If a mission must possess a drilling and caching system to store geological samples, and if Perseverance is the specific rover tasked with collecting these for the Mars Sample Return campaign, then it is the cornerstone of modern mars life missions.

If robotic instruments on a rover are limited by size and power, and if the most precise analysis requires massive laboratory equipment, then space exploration must focus on transporting those samples back to Earth.

If a life detection spacecraft needs to identify complex carbon molecules, then it requires tools that can sort and identify chemical structures (Spectrometers and Chromatographs); if seismometers only measure ground tremors, they are not used for chemical life detection.

If habitability requires a liquid medium and an energy source, and if tidal heating maintains liquid oceans beneath the icy crusts of Europa and Enceladus, then astrobiology mission design prioritizes these "Ocean Worlds."

If an unsterilized spacecraft lands on Mars, it might introduce Earth bacteria that outcompete native life; if we want to ensure any life we find is truly alien, then we must follow strict cleaning protocols to avoid forward contamination.

If a spacecraft must fly through a plume of water vapor to sample its chemistry, and if Cassini successfully detected organic compounds and salts in the vents of Enceladus, then it provided the blueprint for future missions searching for life.

If every gas absorbs a specific pattern of light, and if we analyze the starlight passing through a planet's atmosphere to see those patterns, then the technique used is transmission spectroscopy.

If a mission involves traveling through the Jovian system, landing on a surface, or entering an atmosphere, then the astrobiology mission design must include shielding and thermal protection against radiation, vacuum, and heat.

If the Viking missions were designed to detect active metabolism, and if they added nutrients to Martian soil to see if any organisms released gases, then they used active biological experimentation as their primary approach.

If microbial life is likely hidden underground to avoid radiation, and if orbital sensors cannot see through meters of solid rock, then in-situ drilling and sampling are required for definitive detection.

If methane and oxygen naturally react to form CO2 and water, and if their simultaneous presence in an atmosphere is observed, then a continuous biological source must be maintaining that chemical imbalance.

If a mission brings soil from another world, and if that soil contains unknown biological agents, then space exploration protocols must ensure the samples are strictly contained to prevent potentially harmful "back contamination" of Earth's biosphere.

If "Forward Contamination" is the transfer of Earth life to another planet, then non-sterile hardware or biological shedding from humans/equipment represents the primary risk in mars life missions.

If a mission requires a drone to fly through a thick atmosphere to reach various prebiotic chemistry sites, and if Titan is the only moon with a dense enough atmosphere for such flight, then Dragonfly is designed for Titan.

If solar energy becomes too weak beyond the asteroid belt, and if deep space exploration missions often use Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) for constant power, then solar is not the only energy source.

If the primary metric for habitability is the presence of a solvent for life, then astrobiology mission design uses models to rank worlds based on the probability of having liquid water.

If a mission is specifically targeting Europa's ice shell and subsurface ocean to assess if it can host life, and if Europa Clipper is that designated NASA mission, then it is the primary Jovian life-seeker.

If interstellar distances require high-efficiency or long-duration thrust, then ion drives, solar sails, and nuclear thermal systems are the technologies favored by space exploration researchers; fossil fuel or steam engines are insufficient.