MINI-PUMPS The same miniaturized pumps on the Mars Curiosity rover are at work on Earth. Finding evidence of life on Mars requires high-tech equipment, whether that life is extinct or currently living below the surface and producing methane. Those same resources can be used on this planet during an industrial accident or dangerous chemical spill to let emergency crews know what they’re dealing with. But that’s only if the equipment can be used onsite. A mass spectrometer offers that kind of support on and off this planet. A mass spectrometer analyzes ionized samples of material by measuring the mass of the ionized molecules to determine the ratio of different isotopes in it or learn about the structure of its molecules. This information can be used to determine a sample’s age, how it formed or what molecules it contains (See Distant Encounters). But to land on Mars or be available for onsite emergency use on Earth, this equipment needs to be smaller and more rugged than the large mo...
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