Any practical exploratory uses are years away given that the next Martian rover won't touch down until 2021, and landings on other celestial bodies (such as Jupiter's moon Europa, or Saturn's Enceladus) would be even more distant. However, the Chemical Laptop wouldn't go to waste here on Earth: it could help with in-the-field environmental tests, or bust companies peddling counterfeit drugs. And even if it doesn't find any short-term uses, it might pay off if it delivers the smoking gun evidence that humans aren't alone.

[Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech]