The TGO, in turn, is charged with sniffing atmospheric gases potentially excreted by living organisms -- however small or primitive. While life is unlikely to exist on the barren, radiation-blasted surface, scientists say traces of methane in Mars' atmosphere may indicate something is stirring under the surface -- possibly single-celled microbes.
Eiropas un Krievijas kopīgās "ExoMars" misijas pirmo fāzi veido gan nosēšanās modulis, gan TGO, kas iegājis Marsa orbītā, lai pārbaudītu, vai planētas atmosfērā ir manāmas dzīvu organismu izdalītas gāzes.