Astrobiological Laboratories

The Astrobiological Laboratories are investigating the habitability of Mars, the detection of life in Mars-like and icy Moon-like environments, using planetary simulation experiments in the field, in the laboratories, and in space (Low Earth Orbit). In addition, the habitability of exoplanets is a focus.
Further in addition to the Mars (MSF) simulation facility mimicking the present Martian conditions a new Planetary Analog Simulation laboratory (PASLAB) will also be able to simulate the environmental conditions of early Earth, Early Mars, icy moons and exoplanets and has facilities for biological, physical and geo-chemical research. This allows to combine empirical results of investigated organisms in different planetary environments with results obtained by modelling. The third astrobiological laboratory is the Raman-Mineral-Biology Detection Lab (RMBD) which is able to detect minerals, salts, biomolecules and organisms under ambient and icy planetary environmental conditions.
The Astrobiological Laboratories are a laboratory complex and consist of several sub-modules. For more details, please see the individual websites.