A SCIENTIST has been awarded a £40,000 support package from the European Space Agency for his invention that brings technology used on Mars back down to Earth.

Dr Hugh Mortimer has adapted a small but highly accurate device, originally used to test for water vapour on the red planet, to provide a range of uses from surveying volcanic ash clouds to health-checking food crops.

The scientist, who is based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Harwell, said: “We created a high-performance spectrometer that was also extremely stable and compact.

“We quickly realised there were also some non-space applications. It’s the simplicity and stability of the spectrometer that makes it so versatile and powerful. It could transform how spectrometers are used.”

The device was developed by Dr Mortimer at KEIT, a spin-out company from the Government-funded Science and Technology Facilities Council.

It was originally designed to measure gases in planetary atmospheres in the harsh conditions of space. It is compact, lightweight, and has no moving parts, making it highly stable.

Now it could be used in chemical production lines, industrial chimney stacks or even unmanned aerial vehicles that map the geology of the ground and monitor atmospheric gases. KEIT has been awarded a place within the European Space Agency’s business incubation centre in Harwell.

The place will provide the company with the support package going towards further technology development, a dedicated business adviser from the STFC and expert input from the European Space Agency.

Kate Ronayne, head of innovation at STFC, said: “This is a perfect example of how innovation from our most cutting edge technology programmes in space can create growth and economic benefit through enterprise.”