Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA)

Understanding the Martian Upper Atmosphere
The European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover is part of a series of missions designed to study the potential for past life on Mars. The rover will be the first mission to combine the capability to move across the surface and to study Mars at depth.
The rover will collect samples with a drill down to a depth of 2 m and analyze them with next-generation instruments in an onboard laboratory. Underground samples are more likely to include biomarkers, since the tenuous Martian atmosphere offers little protection from radiation and photochemistry at the surface.
One of those next-generation instruments is the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA). NASA is contributing the Mass Spectrometer (MS), vacuum pump, software, select plumbing and valves, and associated electronics for MOMA.