Lecture for 13-18 yo

Looking for the (possible) signs of life in the solar system

The possibilities of finding the proof of extraterrestrial life in the solar system are increasing thanks to new missions and new techniques, but are we confident about what we are looking for? The search for biomarkers (the evidence of past or present life) are a very critical subject in astrobiology, how can we define them? How can we search for them? Are there techniques that are better than others? Years of space exploration and laboratory experiments increased our knowledge of the survival and detection ability of biomarkers and in this seminar I'll give a review on the key points in this field.

About the speaker

I'm currently a postdoc at LESIA - Observatoire de Paris working on the MIRS infrared spectrometer for the Japanese sample return mission MMX. I'm also involved as science team collaborator with Mars2020 Perseverance mission. My field of expertise is infrared spectroscopy both in laboratory and from remote sensing instruments.

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