IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT LIQUID WATER WHICH IS ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE AS WE KNOW IT COULD EXIST AS A BRINE ON MARS. CURRENTLY HYGROSCOPIC SOLUBLE SALTS THAT HAVE BEEN DETECTED ON MARS SUCH AS PERCHLORATES AND CHLORIDES ARE CONSIDERED THE BEST CANDIDATES FOR SUCH BRINE FORMATION. STUDIES ON THE STABILITY OF THESE BRINES HAVE SHOWN THAT THEY COULD FORM AND BE STABLE FOR CERTAIN TIMES OF A TYPICAL MARTIAN SOL. HOWEVER THE PHASE STABILITY OF THESE BRINES IN THE PRESENCE OF A HETEROGENEOUS NUCLEUS HAS YET TO BE EXAMINED. AT THE SURFACE OF MARS THESE SALTS ARE INVARIABLY PRESENT AS A MIXTURE WITH OTHER SALTS AND SOIL THAT COULD PROVIDE HETEROGENEOUS NUCLEATION SITES. FURTHERMORE THE FLOW PROPERTIES OF SUCH BRINES AT MARS RELEVANT TEMPERATURES SHOULD TO BE EXAMINED TO DETERMINE WHETHER THEY COULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FORMATION OF RECURRING SLOPE LINEAE. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL EXAMINE HETEROGENEOUS FREEZING EFFLORESCENCE AND FLOW PROPERTIES OF MARS RELEVANT SALTS AT LOW TEMPERATURES. THE WORK WILL BE CONDUCTED USING A LOW TEMPERATURE OPTICAL LEVITATION APPARATUS WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND TEMPERATURE CONTROL. THE APPARATUS ALLOWS FOR THE VISUAL IDENTIFICATION OF PHASE TRANSITIONS AND IS ABLE TO OBSERVE COLLISIONS BETWEEN A LEVITATED DROPLET OF THE BRINE WITH A HETEROGENEOUS NUCLEUS. THE STABILITY OF THE TRAP ALLOWS FOR MULTIPLE DROPLETS TO BE CAUGHT AND COALESCED. COALESCENCE TIMES WILL BE MEASURED TO DETERMINED VISCOSITY OF BRINE AS A FUNCTION OF BRINE COMPOSITION AND TEMPERATURE TO DETERMINE FLOW PROPERTIES AT MARS RELEVANT TEMPERATURES. BASED ON RESULTS OF STABILITY AND RESISTANT TO HETEROGENEOUS FREEZING AND EFFLORESCENCE OBTAINED FROM THE PROPOSED WORK THE BEST CANDIDATE SALT FOR BRINE FORMATION CAN BE DETERMINED. ONCE THE CANDIDATE SALTS ARE APPARENT THE PROBABILITY OF FINDING LIQUID WATER ON MARS CAN BE INCREASED BY OPTIMIZING DETECTION METHODS AND LANDING SITES OF FUTURE MISSIONS.