Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations: Looking for Signatures of Life on Mars

Professor Roger Summons describes how he and other scientists on the NASA Mars team search for and analyze possible bio-signatures on Mars. We learn also how his discoveries of extremely ancient bio-signatures on Earth are applied to the Mars investigation. Dr. Summons is distinguished for his technical analysis of sediments of the Precambrian age and modern microbes, and this expertise is crucial for the identification of organic remains in the Martian geology. Dr. Summons is a Professor of Geobiology at MIT.