British scientists gear up for space mission to find life on Mars



Scientists today announced the start of work on instruments that will be used in a new mission to Mars in 2018.

Academics from the University of Leicester are among a group of scientists working on the high-tech equipment for the ExoMars mission.

The project - Exobiology on Mars - is a European-led robotic mission to Mars, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Nasa.



It is one of the key missions under the remit of the newly-formed UK Space Agency.

University of Leicester Professor Mark Sims with a development model of the Mars Rover, called Bridget, at the University, as he is leading a team of scientists who will start work on some of the instruments that will be used for the ExoMars mission in 2018

Part of ESA's Aurora programme for robotic exploration of the solar system, the mission will study the chemical, geological and possible biological environment on Mars in preparation for robotic missions and then human exploration.

The data gathered will also contribute to broader studies of exobiology - the search for life on other planets.

Scientists at the University of Leicester announced the start of work today, in collaboration with industry, on some of the advanced instruments to be used in the mission.

They will be involved in five instruments on board, including building the hardware for three of the instruments on the craft.

Professor Mark Sims, from the university, is leading the international team in constructing the Life Marker Chip (LMC), which aims to find organic molecules that could be associated with life, or organics that may have fallen with meteors on to the surface.

He said: 'ExoMars is a key mission in exploration of the planet Mars.

Bridget can be operated using remote control

'It will attempt to gather samples from a depth one to two metres below the surface where they are protected from radiation and oxidants thought to exist on the surface - both of which would destroy/heavily degrade complex organic compounds.

'The mission gives the university, and the Space Research Centre (SRC) team in particular, the opportunity to explore the chemistry and mineralogy of Mars as well as look at the possibility of life on Mars in the distant past, or even today, and at the same time create world-class science.

'Because of its innovative work in space instrumentation, which builds upon the SRC expertise in imaging detectors and its interdisciplinary work on sensor systems, the university is providing several instruments.

'This is a truly exciting opportunity to explore Mars and look for extra-terrestrial life.

'This is a massive thing in anybody's career. The next few years are going to be amazingly busy, this will be my main task for the next four or five years.'

Prof Sims's colleagues from the university will also be taking part in the creation of two other instruments.

Richard Ambrosi is part of the team, led by Italy, involved in the development of an X-ray Diffraction Instrument, which looks at the composition of soil and rocks.

Ian Hutchinson is part of a Spanish-led team developing a Raman Spectrometer, which looks at mineralogy and possibly detects organics in soil and rocks.

Prof Sims said other universities from across the country are also involved, including the University of Bradford, University College London, the University of Aberystwyth, Cranfield University and Imperial College London.

After prototypes are built and confirmation of the mission by ESA, he said University of Leicester teams will start to gear up for the design and build of the various test models of the instruments and building flight instruments due to be delivered in 2014.

Local industry in the East Midlands and key UK companies will be involved in the build, he said.

Today's announcement coincided with celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of space research at the University of Leicester.

To mark the occasion, an engineering model of the Mars Rover, called Bridget, developed by Astrium in the UK, was on display.

Space craft engineer Jessica Housden makes adjustments to the solar panel

The Mars mission is thought to have major Earth-bound applications, with spin-offs in collaboration with industry bringing environmental benefits as well as technology that can be applied in health and crime detection.

The ExoMars instruments have so far been funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Funding of the flight instruments will be via the UK Space Agency, the university said today.

Prof Sims added: 'The University of Leicester and the UK has a major international role in this key mission.

'The work associated with the ExoMars mission will be a major part of the University's Space Research Centre programme until launch of the mission in 2018 and after that, with operations and 'new science' on the surface of Mars from 2019.

'For the last 50 years at the University of Leicester, we have been exploring the universe via astronomy: since 1993 the Earth and since 1995 the planets and Mars in particular.