{"id":8459,"date":"2014-08-02T13:50:53","date_gmt":"2014-08-02T17:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8459"},"modified":"2014-08-02T13:50:53","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T17:50:53","slug":"crowd-funding-the-exolance-system-to-detect-subsurface-life-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8459","title":{"rendered":"Crowd-funding the ExoLance system to detect subsurface life on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The advocacy organization\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.exploremars.org\/\" target=\"_d\">Explore Mars<\/a>\u00a0has opened a crowd-funding campaign to back the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/exploremars.org\/exolance\/\" target=\"_d\">ExoLance<\/a>\u00a0project\u00a0to develop a system capable of looking for life below the surface of Mars. :\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiegogo.com\/projects\/exolance\" target=\"_d\">ExoLance: Engineering the Science to Help Humanity Investigate Life on Mars\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0Indiegogo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If proven, the ExoLance surface penetrator\u00a0could be delivered to Mars if accepted as an experiment on a future NASA mission. The team has\u00a0several prominent researchers including <a href=\"http:\/\/exploremars.org\/exolance\/the-team\/dr-chris-mckay\/\" target=\"_d\">Dr. Chris McKay<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/exploremars.org\/exolance\/the-team\/dr-gill-levin\/\" target=\"_d\">Dr. Gil Levin<\/a>. Levin was involved in the\u00a0experiments on the Viking landers that looked for indications of microbial life :<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em><span style=\"color: #555555;\">NASA selected his Labeled Release life detection experiment for the Viking Mission, which landed on Mars in 1976. Positive results were obtained at both Viking landing sites. After years of study, Dr. Levin concluded, in 1997, that the experiment had detected living microorganisms.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>This video outlines the project:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mMBioKitqrg?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indiegogo.com\/project\/exolance\/embedded\" width=\"222px\" height=\"445px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the official announcement:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Explore Mars Launches Indiegogo Campaign to Fund<br \/>\nSearch for Subsurface Martian Life<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0WASHINGTON \u2013 August 1, 2014 \u2013 On July 31, 2014, at a special event held at American University in Washington, DC, Explore Mars, Inc. launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in support of its ExoLance project. ExoLance is an innovative privately-funded venture to search for life below the Martian surface.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The search for life on another planet has been intriguing humanity for centuries,&#8221; commented Explore Mars Executive Director, Chris Carberry. &#8220;Through the ExoLance program, Explore Mars seeks to initiate a process that will determine once and for all whether there is life on Mars.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the first phase of ExoLance, lasting approximately 12 months, the penetrator delivery system will be developed and tested. In subsequent phases, Explore Mars will aggressively work on science payload options and advancing the delivery system to flight-ready status.<\/p>\n<p>Aerojet Rocketdyne will provide the initial computer modeling for the penetrator impacts. It is anticipated that this will be completed within the next few months. Joe Cassady, Executive Director, Space for Aerojet Rocketdyne noted that, \u201cWe have a long history of supporting Mars exploration at Aerojet Rocketdyne and we are excited to be supporting the Explore Mars concept for ExoLance.\u201d Also supporting ExoLance are Uwingu, The Planetary Society, Mars World, and the National Institute of Aerospace.<\/p>\n<p>The Indiegogo campaign will run until the end of September, with a minimum goal of raising $250,000. However, the project also provides for secondary goals of over $1 million. Project updates will be announced periodically throughout the campaign.<\/p>\n<p>According to Artemis Westenberg, President of Explore Mars, &#8220;the Explore Mars team is thrilled to initiate this project aimed at getting the answer to the most fundamental question we humans have: \u2018are we alone in the universe?&#8217; With Gilbert Levin (Viking life detection experiments) and Chris McKay (noted astrobiologist and planetary scientist) on the science side and Aerojet Rocketdyne on the engineering side, we believe that ExoLance will provide a method to query Mars about possible life very thoroughly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To support the ExoLance program and participate in the search for life on Mars, interested persons can visit the Indiegogo campaign website at <a href=\"http:\/\/indiegogo.com\/projects\/exolance\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/indiegogo.com\/projects\/exolance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Help Explore Mars determine if there is life on our neighboring planet. Let\u2019s make history together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The advocacy organization\u00a0Explore Mars\u00a0has opened a crowd-funding campaign to back the\u00a0ExoLance\u00a0project\u00a0to develop a system capable of looking for life below the surface of Mars. :\u00a0ExoLance: Engineering the Science to Help Humanity Investigate Life on Mars\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0Indiegogo. If proven, the ExoLance surface penetrator\u00a0could be delivered to Mars if accepted as an experiment on a future NASA mission. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8459\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Crowd-funding the ExoLance system to detect subsurface life on Mars<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,14,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mars","category-space-participation","category-space-science"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2cr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8291,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8291","url_meta":{"origin":8459,"position":0},"title":"Is it time to search for life on Mars? &#8211; panel debate, American Univ, July 31, 2014","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"An upcoming event in Washington DC with a live webcast : Is It Time to Search for Life on Mars? Public-Private Partnerships & Innovation (3Pi) Department of Public Administration and Policy School of Public Affairs American University in Washington, DC [There will be a] special panel debate called \u201cIs It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6645,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6645","url_meta":{"origin":8459,"position":1},"title":"Name a Mars Crater at Uwingu","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Uwingu is a private company set up by a group of leading\u00a0astronomers, planetary scientists, former space program managers, writers and educators (all of whom currently work at Uwingu as volunteers) to raise money for space research. They aim to provide innovative public involvement products that bring a sense of participation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"Uwingu_logo_5-25-10","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/mars_05c-982x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8461,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8461","url_meta":{"origin":8459,"position":2},"title":"Mars 2020 Rover to include oxygen producer","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This past week NASA announced the selection of instruments that will go on the Mars 2020 rover vehicle. One of the most interesting of these systems\u00a0is the \u00a0Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE)\u00a0, which will\u00a0demonstrate the conversion of\u00a0carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into oxygen. Such conversion\u00a0is a key enabler of Mars\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Living in Space&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Living in Space","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"An artist concept image of where seven carefully-selected instruments will be located on NASA\u2019s Mars 2020 rover. The instruments will conduct unprecedented science and exploration technology investigations on the Red Planet as never before.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/673xvariable_height\/public\/mars_2020_rover.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6388,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6388","url_meta":{"origin":8459,"position":3},"title":"New impact crater observed on Mars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Mars has been smacked by a meteoroid and has \u00a0a new 30 meter wide crater:\u00a0A Spectacular New Impact Crater and Its Ejecta - HiRISE\/Univ.Arizona http:\/\/youtu.be\/NzkZwcPe93c --- NASA Mars Orbiter Examines Dramatic New Crater A dramatic, fresh impact crater dominates this image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asteroids &amp; Comets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids &amp; Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"New martian impact crater","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/673xvariable_height\/public\/pia17932_rayedcrater_esp_034285_1835_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9885,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9885","url_meta":{"origin":8459,"position":4},"title":"Space science: New Horizon Pluto mission team does Q&#038;A + Mars lander to test system to produce oxygen on Mars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Alan Stern and other members of the New Horizon mission to Pluto answer questions about the mission in this edited version of \u00a0an\u00a0\"Ask Me Anything\" session on Reddit:\u00a0Alan Stern \u00b7 AMA Highlights. === A group of retired spacecraft engineers and scientists are helping to design and build an experimental system\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Pluto and beyond&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Pluto and beyond","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=97"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mars-2020-NASA-MOXIE-Carbon-Oxygen-br2[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Mars-2020-NASA-MOXIE-Carbon-Oxygen-br21-1024x682.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23405,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=23405","url_meta":{"origin":8459,"position":5},"title":"The Space Show this week &#8211; Jan.11.2021","author":"TopSpacer","date":"January 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week: 1. Monday, Jan. 11, 2021; 7 pm PDT (9 pm CDT, 10 pm EDT: No programming today. 2. Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021; 7 pm PDT (9 pm CDT, 10 pm EDT): We welcome back Rod Pyle and Aggie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activism","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Space Show - David Livingston","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/moonrise1-300x158.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8460,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8459\/revisions\/8460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}