Is there life on Mars?

Or more correctly, was there life on Mars?

One of the many great things we enjoy about marketing for technology businesses is the fascinating initiatives our clients get involved with. Which means that we get involved too – and can generate some excellent publicity.

Validair is a fine example. The company supplies smart particle monitoring systems and contamination-control expertise for critical environments. Much of this is focused on pharmaceutical manufacturing (no one wants microbes in their medication) and semiconductor production (where nanoparticles trash the yield from silicon wafers). However, Validair recently supplied an AeroTrak 9110 Airborne Particle Counter to the University of Leicester for an exciting project that’s out of this world. Literally!

This sensitive instrument will be used in a newly designed double-walled isolator at the University’s Space Park in Leicester. That isolator provides a super-sterile environment for soil samples returned from Mars, protecting them from earthly contaminants that could wreck the results of intricate scientific research into the big question: was there once life on the Red Planet?

Amongst all the excitement of the space missions and the successful deployment of the Mars Perseverance Rover (and its ‘Ingenuity’ helicopter), it’s easy to forget that most of the work to analyse samples retrieved from Mars will take place back here, on our Blue Planet.

As Validair’s marketing partner, we’re delighted to have a privileged insight into that research work through collaboration with the scientists at Leicester.

We’re also pleased, but not surprised, that the promotional material we created for Validair about this fascinating application was widely published by the trade press in the cleanroom, laboratory and contamination-control sectors and well received by Validair’s clients and prospects through our email marketing campaign.

See how the BBC covered the Leicester Uni Mars project on YouTube.