The Life Scientific Caroline Smith on meteorites and potential ancient life on Mars
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Nov 25, 2025 Caroline Smith, Head of Collections at the Natural History Museum, specializes in meteorites and their profound implications for life beyond Earth. She reveals fascinating insights into the Narcla Martian meteorite and its evidence of past water, highlighting meteorites as keys to understanding early Solar System chemistry. Caroline discusses the security of transporting valuable samples and the preparation for Mars sample return missions. Her personal journey from childhood rock collecting to space science is both inspiring and informative, underscoring the societal value of her work.
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Assume Samples Could Be Hazardous
- Mars samples must be handled under high containment because they could plausibly host extant microbes.
- Until proven safe, curators must assume returned rocks are potentially hazardous and treat them accordingly.
Building Martian Rock Analogues
- Caroline led ESA efforts to create Earth rock analogues that mimic Martian properties to test rover systems.
- Those curated analogue suites helped validate rover wheels, drills and instruments before launch.
Tense Joy At Perseverance Landing
- Caroline watched the Perseverance landing via NASA's stream and described the tense moments when mission control reported