The Space Research Centre’s Planetary Laboratory provides a clean and controlled environment for tests of new instrument designs and experiments on planetary analogue materials. These experiments range from X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis (e.g. determining the effects of the porosity and surface roughness of an emitting surface, in order to understand the response of the BepiColombo MIXS experiment) to geotechnics (i.e. rock splitting and sampling) and molecular analysis (i.e. fluorescent imaging of immunoassays, as may be deployed in future Life Marker Chip experiments on Mars). Within the lab, a special chamber – the Mars Environment Simulator, originally built for the Beagle 2 mission - simulates conditions on the surface of Mars or the Moon. The lab also provides for the storage and handling of biological materials and rare specimens such as meteorites.