Advancing UK Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space Solutions Worldwide
  • Home
  • /
  • Space
  • /
  • Validair supplies airborne particle counter for studying Mars soil

Space

Validair supplies airborne particle counter for studying Mars soil

Was there life on Mars? Amongst the excitement of space missions to the Red Planet, successful landings and the deployment of the Mars Rover, it’s easy to forget that the vital analysis of samples retrieved from the surface will take place here, on our Blue Planet.



Image courtesy Validair

In preparation for the return of soil samples, the University of Leicester has designed a new doublewalled  isolator to provide a super‐sterile research and analysis environment, protecting the  invaluable Martian material from earthly contaminants. That protection will be constantly  monitored by a TSI AeroTrak 9110‐01 Airborne Particle Counter supplied by Validair Monitoring  Solutions Ltd.

The entire Mars project looks to the future, in more ways than one. With these extra‐terrestrial 

Advertisement
ODU RT
exploration projects spanning many years, planning is crucial. Even though soil samples from the  surface of Mars are not expected back on Earth for 10 years, the new isolator, its instruments  including the Validair APC, and the research facilities will be ready and validated. Some of the  students at the University’s Space Park working on project preparations today will be fully qualified 
Advertisement
Security & Policing Rectangle
research scientists by the time the analysis process begins. At that point, we can expect to be closer  to answering the question: was there life on Mars?

 

 

Advertisement
Gulfstream banner
SSTL joins Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System’s Lazuli

Space

SSTL joins Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System’s Lazuli

9 March 2026

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) today announced its role as a key industrial collaborator in the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System’s Lazuli, a pioneering initiative that will deliver one of the most ambitious privately funded space telescopes ever conceived.

UK space tech startups target debris, wildfires and climate risk

Security Space

UK space tech startups target debris, wildfires and climate risk

9 March 2026

Six UK space tech startups have joined the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre UK (ESA BIC UK) to develop technologies that deliver practical benefits in space and on Earth, applying space technology to some of today’s most urgent challenges, from clearing space junk to detecting wildfires in seconds.

UK National Microgravity Research Centre opens in Swansea

Space

UK National Microgravity Research Centre opens in Swansea

9 March 2026

The UK’s first National Microgravity Research Centre has been completed at Swansea University, marking the successful delivery of a £13 million project part-funded by the UK Space Agency.

Collaboration to support in-orbit pharmaceuticals manufacturing

Space

Collaboration to support in-orbit pharmaceuticals manufacturing

5 March 2026

The UK Space Agency, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are working collaboratively to provide a supportive regulatory environment to space, biopharma and pharmaceutical ...

Advertisement
PTC rectangle
UK funding aimed at £40bn satellite communications market

Space

UK funding aimed at £40bn satellite communications market

5 March 2026

British companies developing satellite communications technology are to receive £30 million in government funding, Space Minister Liz Lloyd announced yesterday, as the UK looks to secure a larger share of a global market worth £40 billion.

Mutable Tactics secures Seraphim Space led funding

Defence Space

Mutable Tactics secures Seraphim Space led funding

4 March 2026

British robotics autonomy company, Mutable Tactics, has closed a pre seed funding round of $2.1 million led by Seraphim Space, with support from the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund, Koro, Entrepreneurs First and Transpose.

Advertisement
PTC rectangle
Advertisement
ECS leaderboard banner