An all-in-one chemical analysis instrument — currently under development — could potentially detect a single amino acid in a gram of Martian soil. The instrument is dubbed AstroBioNibbler, or Nibbler for short. Its developers envision it as an end-to-end device (from drilling to extraction to final chemical analysis) that could ride shotgun on some forthcoming rover mission.

With funding from NASA’s Astrobiology Science and Technology Instrument Development (ASTID) program, Frank Grunthaner, an emeritus scientist from JPL ,and his colleagues will be testing AstroBioNibbler components, as well as miniaturizing the entire instrument so that it might fit easily on a future Mars mission.