Biomarkers in Extreme Environments on Earth and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life in Our Solar System

Abstract

Our appreciation of the potential distribution of life in the Solar System has been impacted by the discovery that organisms are able to occupy the most extreme environments on Earth. The persistence of life in the deepest parts of oceans, the deep sedimentary and crustal biosphere accessed by deep drill holes, hot springs, deserts, and polar regions has led to diverse hypotheses regarding the potential for extraterrestrial life on other planets. This chapter provides an overview on how scientists explore the habitability of other planets and moons of our Solar System and far away in outer space and how future space missions aim to find evidence for extraterrestrial life.