Mars Mission 2020 with Astrobiologist Bonnie Teece
Published on the 09 August 2020
Bonnie is an astrobiologist and a PhD candidate at UNSW. Bonnie's work includes how organic material preserved in hot springs might assist our search for organics on Mars and how the same techniques aboard the rover Perseverance can be applied to help find ancient life. Bonnie is actively involved in scientific outreach and community engagement. She is part of Praxical, a team working on free virtual workshops for National Science Week in August of 2020.
Bonnie's research looks at ancient fossils on Earth for the same time period that Mars may have hosted life. Rocks from the Pilbara Craton in WA record the oldest life on Earth and teach us how to look for life on Mars.
Our newest Rover, Perseverance, has left home to explore an ancient Martian lake-ben called Jezero Crater. Investigating this crater will help satisfy Perseverance's goals of characterising the geology of Mars and determining whether life every arose on Mars. Read more about this in Bonnie's blog written for the Powerhouse Museum