ExoMars rover will carry tiny organic chemistry lab

Nasa has created a microwave oven-sized chemistry lab for the European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover that will analyse the first ever samples from under the red planet’s surface.

The Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) instrument combines a tiny gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer with an oven and a laser that can be used to vaporise the organic molecules in samples. The equipment, which would normally take up a couple of benches worth of lab space, has been shrunk down significantly so that it can be carried on the rover, which will be equipped with a two metre long drill to collect material from beneath the surface.