Life on Mars (LoMars): History, advances, current research, and perspectives

A quest for life on Mars (LoMars) started in the early 1960s when several research articles were published by the most prestigious scientific journals. According to the Elsevier’s Scopus database, the rise in annual literature production started in the late 1990s, most likely associated with the launch of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) first rover, Sojourner, in 1996. It is likely that the number of articles on Mars will continue to rise sharply given that the launch and landing of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is critical to discovering and understanding present or past life on the planet. Thus far, the USA has dominated in both the number of citations and collaborations related to Mars research, given its facilities equipped with relevant infrastructure and researchers’ capacity to explore the Solar System beyond Earth. The majority of these frequently cited papers report results of observational and theoretical research. However, a highly cited paper is based on analytical studies of a unique Martian meteorite (i.e., Allan Hills 84001) found in Antarctica. It is expected that the future sample return mission associated with the caching system of the Perseverance Rover could possibly increase the LoMars research exponentially in the coming decades, if Martian samples are successfully brought back to Earth. Based on the total number of publications on the topic of LoMars, the most influential institute, author, and journal are Caltech, C.P. McKay, and Icarus, respectively. Both the institute and the author are directly affiliated with NASA, indicating the leadership offered by the organization in LoMars research.