NSSDCA ID: 2011-070A-04
Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument package is deigned to remotely examine the elemental composition of a large number of surface samples in the vicinity of the rover and help determine which rock anbd soil targets should be chosen for further study by the contact and analytic instruments. It can also make analyses of samples that are inaccessible to other instruments, and can make daily surveys of soil at the rover locations. It can also perform passive spectroscopy measurements.
ChemCam consists of a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) and a Remote Micro-Imager (RMI). The LIBS instrument fires powerful laser pulses concentrated on a small sampling area within 7 meters of the rover. The pulses ablate material and cause excitation and light emission from the atoms and ions. The emitted light is collected by a telescope and the emission lines are measured by three dispersive spectrometers to determine the elements present in the samples. The LIBS uses ~14 mJ, 5 nanosecond laser pulses focused on a spot 0.3 to 0.6 mm diameter. The collecting telescope has a diameter of 110 mm and focuses the light into the end of a fiber optic cable, which carries the light to the spectrometers. The spectrometers cover 240 - 850 nm at resolutions from 0.09 - 0.30 mm in 6144 channels.
Questions and comments about this experiment can be directed to: Dr. David R. Williams
Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. Roger Wiens | Principal Investigator | Los Alamos National Laboratory | rwiens@lanl.gov |