ASTROBIOLOGY TRAINING IN LAVA TUBES (ATILT)

ATiLT, Astrobiology Training in Lava Tubes, is a new project funded by the Canadian Space Agency's Flights an Fieldwork for the Advancement of Science and Technology program. ATiLT will provide unique field and operations training for graduate and undergraduate students through a series of astrobiology-themed science activities conducted in lava tube caves that are high fidelity analogues of martian lava tubes. Intact lava tubes are key astrobiology targets as they may preferentially preserve biosignatures and records of past environmental conditions on Mars. Students from Canada and the US will perform field work at Lava Beds National Monument, California, and collaborate with international scientists and engineers. Students will be trained in instrument operations and will lead the field-based analyses of data acquired with their respective instruments. Initially, lava tube caves will be located and mapped from the surface to progressively larger depths using geophysical methods including ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity, and electromagnetic induction sounding. Inside the caves, students will characterize secondary minerals and ice using mineralogical and geochemical methods (LIBS and Raman), and cold-adapted microbial communities and biosignatures using in situ bioassays. Samples will be characterized further with subsequent laboratory work. In addition, the hydrology and environmental parameters of a selection of diverse cave systems will be investigated. This multidisciplinary approach will simulate some of the scientific aspects of a Mars exploration mission. In parallel to field work and laboratory investigations, we are also developing a detailed mission concept. As such, this work is therefore critical to developing a mission to explore martian lava tubes.