LINCOLN, PRYOR, SNYDER ANNOUNCE $670,000 NASA GRANT TO HARDING WASHINGTON, D.C. - United States Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, and Representative Vic Snyder announced today that a $670,000 federal grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been awarded to Harding University's Department of Physical Science in Searcy.
The Distributed Spectroscopy for Mobile Science Laboratories grant will be used to fund the development of an instrument to measure biogenic gases on Mars. The presence of such gases as water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane or hydrogen sulfide may indicate Martian life, whether past or present. The instrument will measure water vapor on the surface of Mars using two robotic devices. One will contain a laser that shines water-sensitive light beam to another robot, which detects the beam.
NASA solicited proposals for the Astrobiology Science and Technology Instrument Development program to develop instrumentation capabilities that will help meet Astrobiology science requirements on future space flight missions, as well as unique Astrobiology science objectives on Earth. The initial funding was obtained through the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium. Grants are for 1-3 years, with research set to begin as soon as possible.
For more information on the device being developed by Harding, you may contact Dr. Ed Wilson at 501-279-4513.
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