Mars chemical composition analyzer

The Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States stated that the instrument developed by the United States and France Scientists Cooperation Research Team named "ChemCam" on September 21st was delivered to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The instrument will be installed on the Mars rover "Curiosity," which is scheduled to launch in 2011. Its role is to help people understand the chemical elements on Mars.

It is reported that when a new Mars rover arrives on the surface of Mars in the future, the laser from the “ChemCam” instrument will emit laser light to a target 7 meters away from the Mars rover and use laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. The technology detects the chemical components or elements contained in the target material by the laser.

The specific analysis process is that first the target is bombarded with a laser beam, and the bombardment point is only the size of the needle. Under the action of the laser, the bombarded substance evaporates. A spectral analyzer was then used to capture and analyze the flashes of evaporated material. Since atoms will emit light waves when they are converted into ionized atoms by laser light, and different atoms emit wavelengths of light when they are ionized, “ChemCam” can be performed by taking the observed wavelength of light waves and the data of the atomic spectrum database carried by itself. Compare to infer the atoms or elements contained in the bombarded target substance.

The researchers said that even if the rock target was covered by dust, it would be difficult for the “ChemCam” analyzer to be able to use the laser to remove dust or other coverings before analyzing the rock sample. Roger Wiens, head of instrument development at the Los Alamos National Laboratory "ChemCam", said that they brought together many new ideas to make the instrument a reality.

Sylvester Morris, head of France's participation in the ChemCam instrument, believes that the instrument, like a geochemical observer, will provide data on the composition of Mars to see if it is suitable for past, present or future live. At the same time, the instrument will also help the Mars rover control team select the most valuable target for research on other instruments on the rover. In the future, the United States and France Joint Research Team will jointly control the “ChemCam” elemental analysis activities on Mars and explain the data obtained.

The "curious" Mars rover is by far the largest and most capable robot for Mars. It is powered by nuclear power and weighs more than 900 kilograms. It is the same size as a car. The size of the space capsule that carried it into the atmosphere of Mars even surpassed the "Apollo" landing capsule that carried three astronauts. Including "ChemCam", the total number of instruments to be carried on the Curiosity rover is 10. Other instruments can help people understand Mars minerals, smell organic matter, observe the weather and radiation environment, and drill Martian rocks (a few centimeters in depth). According to the original plan, the "curios" rover will be launched in November 2011 from the Florida Space Center and arrived in Mars in August 2012.