A Queen’s University scientist has been recruited by NASA to contribute to a high-level, international investigation into the possibility of the planet Mars becoming contaminated with microbes from Earth. Dr John Hallsworth of the School of Biological Sciences is one of just 22 scientists from around the world – and the only one from Britain or Ireland – participating in the Special Regions-Science Analysis Group (SR-SAG). The group is pooling knowledge from a range of disciplines – microbiology, geochemistry, geological data analysis (from robotic and orbiting devices) – in order to inform future international policy on space exploration. It has already submitted its initial findings, available online at mepag.jpl.nasa.gov, to NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG). qub.ac.uk/home/ceao/News/Title,449264,en.html
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 10:36:14 +0000