A corer-grinder tool developed by a five-man Hong Kong team will be the first device used to search for life on Mars.

The device called the Micro End-Effector is a little bigger than one’s palm and consists of a pair of forceps, a rock corer and a grinder. It will drill into the core of soft rocks about 20 centimetres (7.78 inches) below the surface of the red planet, collect the particles and drop them into an analyser which will transmit the data back to earth.

“It is the first time such a diagnosis will be carried out on a planet, to make absolutely sure it will not be affected by any other environment,” explained Dr Chris Wong, team member and head of the Industrial Centre at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

The corer-grinder will blast off aboard the European Space Agency’s 2003 Mars Express Mission on December 26. It will be attached to the robotic arm of the mission’s British-made Beagle 2 spacecraft that will land on Mars and look for signs of life.

Team leader and dental surgeon Dr Ng Tze-cheun derived his idea for the corer-grinder while watching a space programme on television. “The astronaut was so clumsy, dropping everything. I knew I could solve the problem by inventing a tool based on the dental forcep.” He went on to develop the precision exploration tools that were used by the Russians aboard their Mir space station in 1995.

Now incorporated into the corer-grinder, Dr Ng’s space forceps will establish another first. They will make Hong Kong the first to “touch” life on Mars should the rock particles which the modified forceps will pick up contain hydrocarbon.