Mars-like conditions on Earth can best be found in the Atacama Desert (Chile). A group of four scientists has now set off there for a two-week excursion. The researchers belong to the Laboratory of Applied Space Microbiology at ZARM at the University of Bremen and want to take soil samples in the Atacama Desert. They hope this will provide them with in-depth insights into the geochemical properties of the sediment, the microorganisms present, and their adaptation mechanisms. The aim of their research is to clarify fundamental questions:

• How do microorganisms survive in this salty, harsh environment?
• What can microorganisms do to help extract vital resources on Mars?
• Is there or has there been life on Mars?  

The Atacama Desert closely resembles conditions on Mars
If you want to get a feel for what it's like to be on Mars, then the Atacama Desert in Chile is the place to be. Hardly any other place in the world comes as close to the conditions on the Red Planet. The desert in northern Chile shares with Mars a history of slow desiccation and a high concentration of toxic salts. NASA also uses the region to test its Mars probes.

The research group from Bremen, consisting of Dr. Jacob Heinz, Prof. Dr. Cyprien Verseux, and two students, will travel to Antofagasta in northern Chile and set out from there into the desert. Further excursions will be made from a base camp in an off-road vehicle. The Atacama Desert is quite well developed due to high mining activity, but most of the roads leading to the areas of particular interest to the scientists are unpaved. They are looking for saline sediments in order to collect samples of sand and rock for further analysis in the Bremen laboratory. Their most important instrument is a mobile Raman spectrometer, about the size of a small suitcase. Here, the material to be examined is irradiated with a laser to obtain information about its chemical composition. The research group is particularly interested in environments with especially high salt concentrations, such as nitrate, perchlorate, or calcium salts. These occur both on Earth and on other celestial bodies, such as Mars.

Salts as potential habitats for terrestrial and extraterrestrial life
Jacob Heinz, who holds a doctorate in chemistry, is embarking on his second trip to the Atacama Desert to collect samples. As part of his EXOSALT project, he will then examine the samples for their geochemical properties and microbial composition. He is particularly interested in so-called biosignatures, i.e., evidence of past and present life in these salty environments.

Small organisms and big tasks
Building on this, Cyprien Verseux is researching how these life forms have adapted to the toxic, salty environment. He uses these findings to identify microorganisms that can convert Martian rock (regolith) and atmospheric gases into valuable chemical elements, compounds, and bioplastics. Astrobiologist Verseux is a member of “The Martian Mindset” Cluster of Excellence, which was launched at the beginning of the year.

Launch of the new Cluster of Excellence “The Martian Mindset”
The scientists in the cluster are mentally transporting themselves to Mars in order to rethink the production of materials and components from scratch: The scarcity of resources and extreme conditions on the Red Planet serve as an experimental setting for developing a new paradigm of sustainability that enables innovative, resource- and energy-saving processes for material extraction and processing. Four dimensions of scarcity are taken into account: limited raw materials, limited electrical energy, limited labor, and limited information. In the long term, the cluster aims to contribute to sustainable space exploration, but above all to drive green change on Earth.

Prof. Dr. Marc Avila, Director of the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) and co-spokesperson for “The Martian Mindset”, emphasizes the importance of this research trip:

“The research work of Cyprien and Jacob plays a particularly important role for our cluster's focus on material extraction. The data available so far leads us to believe that microorganisms can help us produce important chemical elements on Mars. The sampling in the Atacama Desert is another crucial building block in the research into the use of Martian regolith.”  

Background
“The Martian Mindset” brings together over 70 scientists and is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 2026 to 2032 as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German Federal Government and the States (project number 533607631). It builds on decades of scientific excellence at the University of Bremen and its partner institutes in the fields of materials, processes, production, robotics, and space technology. The EXOSALT project, led by Dr. Jacob Heinz, has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) since 2020 (project number 455070607). The Laboratory of Applied Space Microbiology is located at the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen.