Remote Exploration

In the future, thousands of chips the size of dimes could be loaded on a Martian rover looking for biosignatures of past or present life. Astronauts working in space on long-term missions or living in outposts on the Moon or Mars will also need the capability of detecting deadly microbes quickly and to stop them from spreading. In collaboration with other NASA centers, the U.S. Army, and private life-science institutions, researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center are developing lab-on-a-chip technology that allows chemical and biological tests for microbial detection as well as for organic molecules, which are a sign of life, on other planets. LOCAD is developing a portable handheld unit for processing these lightweight chips.