Success Story: Mission to Mars

Is Mars really so hostile to life, or could some organisms from Earth survive even under such conditions? Scientists at the German Aerospace Center (DLR)'s Institute of Planetary Research are looking into the question.

"We want to find out if there are any organisms on Earth that demonstrate metabolic processes and growth under Martian conditions," says Dr. Andreas Lorek, scientist at the Mars Simulation Laboratory at the DLR's Institute of Planetary Research. On board the mission is a USB 2.0 industrial camera from IDS. The autofocus camera is helping the scientists to evaluate and document the experiments, and is delivering perfect images despite the extreme conditions.