The scientific instruments have been selected for the first U.S.-European joint mission to Mars, and they’re going to be looking for methane. The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter will be loaded up with gadgets designed to sniff out whether the gas is being generated by geological or biological processes.
Unexpected levels of methane were detected by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter in 2003, and the find was confirmed by ground-based observations supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation. One of the places where plumes of methane are rising into the Martian atmosphere is Nili Fossae, which is considered a prime target in the search for traces of Martian life.
The ExoMars experiments will track down more precisely where Mars’ methane is coming from.