NASA scientists have developed a new microfluidic system that is tough enough to be used in outer space.

Peter Willis at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, US, and colleagues have created a lab-on-a-chip that they claim can survive the extremes of the European ExoMars rover mission scheduled for launch in 2013. The device could detect molecules essential for life, such as amino acids, they say.

ExoMars rover

It probably won't find any little green men but the ExoMars rover is designed to collect and analyse Martian mineral samples to look for evidence of life. The mission will take two years to reach Mars, with temperatures varying from minus to plus 50 degrees Celsius, so new materials are needed to survive these stresses.

Willis explains that the new system's strength results from its layers of glass and an elastomer called perfluoropolyether. 'It does not degrade when exposed to non-aqueous solvent nor do the elastomer-glass interfaces seal shut if left dormant for long periods of time, as typically happens with microfluidic valves,' he says. The team used the chip extensively at a range of temperatures and found that its performance was unaffected afterwards. The group now plan to check that the electrical characteristics of the devices do not change over time before working to make the system function unaided by humans.

As 2013 approaches, scientists can only speculate as to what the ExoMars rover will discover. As Jessica Malin, director of the Stanford Microfluidics Foundry, US, says: 'It will be exciting to see what scientific findings may result.' But with the help of his device, if there is evidence of life on Mars, past or present, Willis is confident that the ExoMars rover will find it.

Laura Howes