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Planetary Environments Laboratory
Operational

Arctic Mars Analogue Svalbard Expedition (AMASE)

AMASE has established Svalbard as a test bed for life-detection technology that will be used on future NASA and ESA 'Search for Life' mission to Mars.

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Since 2003 the Arctic Mars Analogue Svalbard Expedition (AMASE) has been traveling to field sites on Svalbard to test the protocols, procedures and equipment needed to detect traces of organic chemistry and perhaps life on Mars. The AMASE crew over the years has consisted of over a hundred scientists and engineers from institutions around the world.

Related Publications

2009. "Signatures of Life in Ice (SLIce): An analog study for in-situ detection of biosignatures elsewhere.", 14th Annual V.M. Goldschmidt Meeting, [Full Text] [Proceedings]

2006. "Biosignatures of arctic endolithic organisms from different rock types.", Astrobiology Science Conference, [Proceedings]

2007. "Biogeochemistry and nitrogen cycling in an Arctic, volcanic ecosystem.", American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, [Proceedings]

2010. "Organic biosignatures and habitat features of near-surface glacial ice in Svalbard.", Astrobiology Science Conference 2010, [Full Text] [Proceedings]

2009. "A Field-Based Cleaning Protocol for Sampling Devices Used in Life-Detection Studies.", Astrobiology, 9 (5): 455-465 [10.1089/ast.2008.0275] [Journal Article/Letter]