TY - JOUR
T1 - Life on Mars (LoMars): History, advances, current research, and perspectives
T2 - History, advances, current research, and perspectives
AU - Ali, Arshad
AU - Shahid, Muhammad S.
AU - Jabeen, Iffat
AU - El-Ghali, Mohamed A.K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/11/29
Y1 - 2022/11/29
N2 - A quest for life on Mars (LoMars) started in the early 1960s when the most prestigious scientific journals published several research articles. According to Elsevier’s Scopus database, the rise in annual literature production started in the late 1990s, most likely associated with the launch of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) first rover, Sojourner, in 1996. The number of articles on Mars will likely continue to rise sharply, given that the launch and landing of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover are critical to discovering and understanding the present or past life on the planet. Thus far, the USA has dominated in the number of citations and collaborations related to Mars research, given its facilities equipped with relevant infrastructure and researchers’ capacity to explore the Solar System beyond Earth. Most of these frequently cited papers report observational and theoretical research results. However, a highly cited article is based on analytical studies of a unique Martian meteorite (i.e., Allan Hills 84001) found in Antarctica. It is expected that the future sample return mission associated with the Perseverance Rover caching system could increase the LoMars research exponentially in the coming decades if Martian samples are successfully brought to Earth. Based on the total number of publications on LoMars, the most influential institute, the author, and the journal are Caltech, C.P. McKay, and Icarus, respectively. Both the institute and the author are directly affiliated with NASA, indicating the leadership offered by the organization in LoMars research.
AB - A quest for life on Mars (LoMars) started in the early 1960s when the most prestigious scientific journals published several research articles. According to Elsevier’s Scopus database, the rise in annual literature production started in the late 1990s, most likely associated with the launch of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) first rover, Sojourner, in 1996. The number of articles on Mars will likely continue to rise sharply, given that the launch and landing of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover are critical to discovering and understanding the present or past life on the planet. Thus far, the USA has dominated in the number of citations and collaborations related to Mars research, given its facilities equipped with relevant infrastructure and researchers’ capacity to explore the Solar System beyond Earth. Most of these frequently cited papers report observational and theoretical research results. However, a highly cited article is based on analytical studies of a unique Martian meteorite (i.e., Allan Hills 84001) found in Antarctica. It is expected that the future sample return mission associated with the Perseverance Rover caching system could increase the LoMars research exponentially in the coming decades if Martian samples are successfully brought to Earth. Based on the total number of publications on LoMars, the most influential institute, the author, and the journal are Caltech, C.P. McKay, and Icarus, respectively. Both the institute and the author are directly affiliated with NASA, indicating the leadership offered by the organization in LoMars research.
KW - ALH84001 meteorite
KW - Life on Mars
KW - Mars 2020
KW - Perseverance Rover
KW - Water on Mars
KW - Zhurong Rover
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143170621&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85143170621&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/2b06ea9a-3c3d-3769-8986-fb3bb77e6fd5/
U2 - 10.15446/esrj.v26n3.96985
DO - 10.15446/esrj.v26n3.96985
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85143170621
SN - 1794-6190
VL - 26
SP - 221
EP - 230
JO - Earth Sciences Research Journal
JF - Earth Sciences Research Journal
IS - 3
ER -