Mars Science Laboratory

The Mars Science Laboratory rover. Curiosity, scheduled to begin exploring Mars in 2012, features a U.S7 French laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy unit that... 

Anderson, R.C., Beegle, L.W., Peters, G.H., Eleming, G.M., Jandura, L., Kriechbaum, K., Manatt, K., Okon, A., Pounders, E., Sollitt, L., Sunshine, D. (2009) Particle transport and distribution on the Mars Science Laboratory mission effects of triboelectric charging. Icarus, 204, 545-557. 

As a follow-up to the success of the original Mars Rovers, NASA sponsored and developed the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) named Curiosity. This vehicle had the high-end Uthium-ion battery providing backup power to the U.S. Department of Energy s radioisotope energy generator. The MSL was launched on November 26, 2011 and landed on the surface of Mars on August 5, 2012. The anticipated duration of Curiosity s prime mission is one Mars year (669 Sols). 

Lopez-Moreno C, Palanco S, Lasema et al (2006) Test of a stand-off laser-induced luminescence detection of explosive residues on solid surfaces. J Anal Atom Spectrosc 21 55-60 Maurice S, Wiens R, Saccoccio M et al (2012) The ChemCam instrument suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover science objectives and mast unit description. Space Sci Rev. doi 10.1007/s 11214-012-9912-2... 

Tucker et al demonstrated the applicability of LIBS to bulk elemental analysis of igneous rock powders. The LIBS spectra were modelled using PLS to predict major element compositions. Multiple calibration sets relevant to different rock types were preferred over a single all-encompassing calibration set. Baseline removal and transforming spectral data by their first derivative did not improve predictions and may even have negative effects. These results are directly applicable to spectra that will be acquired by the ChemCam experiment on Mars Science Laboratory, but also to terrestrial LIBS applications. 

The adjective space in the chapter title loosely means extraterrestrial and could include planetology, the study of other solid bodies in the solar system, such as Mars, Comet Halley, or asteroid Ceres. While MS is vital to all planetary exploration, these devices function much the same way as laboratory MS, except that they are remotely operated, use less power, and are considerably more expensive. But space can also have the more restricted meaning of outside the ionosphere of any planet, but inside the solar system, which will be the area discussed in this chapter. The properties and challenges of this region are very different from the lab, although the science turns out to be often the same. 

The laboratory and field studies that are recommended above are not expensive by any metric progress can be made with consistent NASA support at the 20 million annual level. That is a small fraction of the cost of a single launch of a space shuttle or of the contribution over the years to the space station, and it is a nearly negligible fraction of the cost of a human mission to Mars. Laboratory and field studies are a necessary component of such a mission. The results obtained from such studies not only will provide an answer to the question, Why go to Mars but also will be needed to prevent a human landing on Mars from vitiating a key discovery that might have the greatest of effects for science and society. 

Mar. 8, 1914, Minsk, Russia - Dec. 2, 1987, Moscow, USSR, now Russia) 1931, laboratory assistant at the Institute of Chemical Physics of the Academy of Science (AS) of the USSR. 1936, PhD degree (adsorption, catalysis) 1939, DSc degree (phys-math science) 1946 corresponding member of AS USSR 1958 actual member of AS USSR. 1965, professor at the Department of Physics of Moscow State University and head of the division of Relativistic Astrophysics at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute. 1965-1983, head of a division at the Institute of Applied Mathematics, AS USSR. 1977, head of the Scientific Council on Fusion at the AS USSR. 

The intention of the Green Book ever since its appearance was not to present a list of recommendations as commandments, but rather its aim was and still is to help the user in what may be called a good practice of scientific language . Many well-established conventions are used in science and technology, but mixing conventions can lead to misunderstandings or even cause severe errors. One of those errors, caused by confusion of metric and imperial units, led to the loss of the NASA Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) in 1999, worth about 200 Million USD of equipment and a non-quantified loss of scientific data and work. The reason for tlie loss of MCO was that Lockheed Martin Astronautics (LMA) software used imperial units (Ibf s) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory expected output from the LMA software... 

We ve never been able to define what better is in any meaningful way, says Donna Shirley, manager of the Mars exploration program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1994 until she retired in 1998. What is better More science with simultaneous observations Incredible resolution with no coverage You need both. As the Joke goes, you can t have faster, better and cheaper. Pick two. ... 

Conway, S.J., Balme, M.R., Towner, M.C., Murray, J.B. Can water move sediment on present-day Mars Insights into guUy formation from laboratory simulations. In Lunar and Planetary Institute Science Conference Abstracts, vol. 41, P- 1894 (2010)... 

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