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UV rays may shed light on Mars life
Upcoming Mars missions will use new method of examining soil for organic compounds
Carly Dougher
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: News
Using this hypothesis, with funding from the National Science Foundation and NASA, the team has developed a system that is simple in design, using the panoramic camera and drill that the European Space Agency already plans to use and simply adding either a UV light-emitting diode (LED) or laser diode as a fixture to the camera. The UV light will be aimed at soil that is brought up from as deep as two meters by the drill and the soil will glow if organic material is present.
Using the UV light as a preliminary measure to find organic material will save chemicals, acids, and stains that the rover must carry in order to conduct more detailed chemical analyses of soil. This is extremely beneficial as there will be limited attempts to run experiments before the onboard resources are used up.
"Even more intriguing is that the UV light can do more then just discover organic material," Storrie-Lobardi said. "The 375-nanometer light also stimulates some of the most common enzymes in biological systems, some of the metabolites in every cell we've ever run across … so if you come across bacteria, algae or lichens, you'd have a chance of lighting these things up."
Tests conducted by Dr. Fisk have shown that a common PAH, Pyrine, lights up with a simple LED, and the scientists are hopeful for similar results whenever their technology makes it to Mars in the coming years.
Using the UV light as a preliminary measure to find organic material will save chemicals, acids, and stains that the rover must carry in order to conduct more detailed chemical analyses of soil. This is extremely beneficial as there will be limited attempts to run experiments before the onboard resources are used up.
"Even more intriguing is that the UV light can do more then just discover organic material," Storrie-Lobardi said. "The 375-nanometer light also stimulates some of the most common enzymes in biological systems, some of the metabolites in every cell we've ever run across … so if you come across bacteria, algae or lichens, you'd have a chance of lighting these things up."
Tests conducted by Dr. Fisk have shown that a common PAH, Pyrine, lights up with a simple LED, and the scientists are hopeful for similar results whenever their technology makes it to Mars in the coming years.
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