In the search for microbial life on Mars, scientists have to find novel ways to collect and examine samples of novel microorganisms with extreme tolerances to cold, desiccation, and radiation. LSU’s Dr. John Wefel received an EPSCoR Pfund grant to develop sampling instruments and identification techniques in collaboration with NASA and researchers from four universities. The team is running tests inside of a thermal vacuum environmental chamber in preparation for testing their sampling techniques in the extreme upper atmosphere of Earth.
