Nano-instrumentation to Aid in the Search for Life on Mars
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is scheduled to touch down on the ice-rich northern polar region of Mars in May 2008. This is believed to be the last remaining area where microbial life could have existed.
Onboard the Phoenix lander is a suite of sophisticated scientific instrumentation including a weather station, an optical microscope, and a space-adapted, high-resolution Atomic Force Microscope (AFM).
The advanced Nanosurf AFM is the first ever utilized in space and will analyze Martian soil samples in greater detail than ever before.
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