31st May 2013 - In collaboration with researchers in the School of Engineering and SUERC, Jaime Toney, Vernon Phoenix and Martin Lee will study the possibility of life on the red planet

Issued: Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:04:00 BST

Through its Aurora programme, the UK Space Agency has awarded two grants to GES researchers. Dr Vernon Phoenix and Dr Jaime Toney, together with Dr Christopher Quince in the School of Engineering, will research the conditions under which life may survive on Mars and how signs of life may be preserved.  This work will use the Chilean Altiplano as an analogue for the Martian surface.  Prof. Martin Lee will work with Dr Patrick Harkness (School of Engineering), Dr Darren Mark (SUERC) and Prof. Sanjeev Gupta (Imperial College) to chart the history of the martian atmosphere and develop instruments for future Mars missions.

The Carnegie Trust has awarded one of its Larger Grants for a project to understand the origin of carbon in a meteorite from Mars called Tissint. This project is headed by Dr Philippa Ascough, who will work alongside Dr Darren Mark and Dr Douglas Morrison at SUERC, Prof Martin Lee (GES), Dr John Faithfull (Hunterian Museum), Dr Caroline Smith (Natural History Museum, Londin), and Prof. Charles Cockell (University of Edinburgh).

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