WHAT'S that gassy smell? The hypersensitive methane detector on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is being repurposed to ferret out gas leaks on Earth. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco, and global energy giant Chevron, are testing a handheld, earthbound version that is 1000 times as sensitive as existing methane sniffers.
The device looks like "a funky golf club" with a laser at the end, says PG&E spokesperson Hailey Wilson. "It's the same technology as on Mars," she says. "When it picks up trace amounts of methane, it kind of sings to the operator, and changes pitch depending on the concentration."
Cliff Johnson, president of the Pipeline Research Council International, says the detector will help find leaks in pipelines before they get large. "It's become a critical issue for the industry."
This article appeared in print under the headline "Smells like Curiosity"
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