spectral features. Tis allows much less ambiguous detection of specific species, especially in the presence of mineral mixtures,” he says. Misra points out that Raman spectra of samples contain a ‘wealth of molecular fingerprint information’ that can be used to identify water containing minerals, biomarkers, biominerals, minerals and numerous chemical compounds. Te technique also has the ability to detect both organic and inorganic components of a biogeological system, giving Raman a ‘large advantage in the detection of life.’ Te new system will be used for the first time in the MARS2020 mission to look for evidence of life on Mars under a ‘SuperCam’ instrument. Looking ahead, Misra expects that the remote detection of extraterrestrial biological materials will be feasible using two spectroscopy techniques – remote Raman and remote bio-fluorescence spectroscopies, both of which he says ‘provide bio-detection at a range of several tens of metres with fast integration time of a few seconds.’
