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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Due to its extreme dryness, the Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the most important environments on Earth for researchers who need to approximate the conditions of Mars.

Working in 90-plus-degree heat in arguably the driest place on Earth, the team behind NASA's Atacama Rover Astrobiology Drilling Studies, or ARADS, project just completed its second season of tests. The project aims to show that roving, drilling and life-detection can all happen together [phys.org], with the goal of demonstrating the technical feasibility and scientific value of a mission that searches for evidence of life on Mars.

Thirty-five researchers, scientists, engineers and support staff spent a month testing tools and collecting scientific data on how life exists in the high desert today and how it first developed in this environment.

Geological and soil mineral evidence suggests that extremely dry conditions have persisted in the Atacama Desert for at least 10 to 15 million years, and possibly far longer. Coupled with strong, persistent ultraviolet radiation from the sun, this means that what little life exists in the Atacama is in the form of microbes living underground or inside rocks.

Similarly, if life exists or ever existed on Mars, the planet's surface dryness and extensive radiation exposure would likely drive it underground. That makes locations like the Atacama good places to practice looking for life on Mars.

Is the rover a failure if it doesn't immediately return to the researchers and indicate life?

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