NASA Launched ‘Chemical Notebook’ to seek out alien life

NASA engineers work on an exceptional “Chemical Notebook” – a mobile, miniaturised lab that will help astronauts analyse samples for existence of life on the spot as they enter the strange world. Being developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, these devices may help astronauts try to find the signatures of life on another world, including Mars.

“If this instrument were to be sent to space, it might function as the most sensitive apparatus of its own type to depart the Earth as well as the first to have the ability to check for both amino acids and fatty acids – the building blocks of life,” said Jessica Creamer, NASA postdoctoral fellow based at JPL. The “Chemical Notebook” is a on the go lab which researchers expect to send one day to some other planetary body like Mars or Europa.

It’s about the size of a normal computing notebook, but considerably thicker to make room for chemical analysis elements in. But unlike a tricorder seen in the film “Star Trek,” it’s to ingest a sample to analyse it. “Our apparatus is a chemical analyser which can be reprogrammed just like a notebook to do distinct functions,” included Fernanda Mora, a JPL technologist.

As on a routine notebook, we’ve got distinct uses for distinct investigations like amino acids and fatty acids, he included. Amino acids are building blocks of proteins, while fatty acids are essential elements of cell membranes. Both are vital to life, but also can be discovered in non-life sources as well as the “Chemical Notebook” might have the ability to identify the difference.