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Sample Analysis at Mars

About: Sample Analysis at Mars is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 192 publications have been published within this topic receiving 8499 citations. The topic is also known as: Sample Analysis at Mars.


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Journal ArticleDOI
24 Jan 2014-Science
TL;DR: The Curiosity rover discovered fine-grained sedimentary rocks, which are inferred to represent an ancient lake and preserve evidence of an environment that would have been suited to support a martian biosphere founded on chemolithoautotrophy.
Abstract: The Curiosity rover discovered fine-grained sedimentary rocks, which are inferred to represent an ancient lake and preserve evidence of an environment that would have been suited to support a martian biosphere founded on chemolithoautotrophy. This aqueous environment was characterized by neutral pH, low salinity, and variable redox states of both iron and sulfur species. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorus were measured directly as key biogenic elements; by inference, phosphorus is assumed to have been available. The environment probably had a minimum duration of hundreds to tens of thousands of years. These results highlight the biological viability of fluvial-lacustrine environments in the post-Noachian history of Mars.

770 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
03 Dec 2004-Science
TL;DR: A detection of methane in the martian atmosphere by the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer onboard the Mars Express spacecraft is reported, and the global average methane mixing ratio is found to be 10 ± 5 parts per billion by volume.
Abstract: We report a detection of methane in the martian atmosphere by the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer onboard the Mars Express spacecraft. The global average methane mixing ratio is found to be 10 ± 5 parts per billion by volume (ppbv). However, the mixing ratio varies between 0 and 30 ppbv over the planet. The source of methane could be either biogenic or nonbiogenic, including past or present subsurface microorganisms, hydrothermal activity, or cometary impacts.

713 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Curiosity rover has a designed lifetime of at least one Mars year (∼23 months) and drive capability of up to 20 km as discussed by the authors, and is a scaled version of the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Spirit and Opportunity and the Mars Pathfinder Sojourner.
Abstract: Scheduled to land in August of 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission was initiated to explore the habitability of Mars. This includes both modern environments as well as ancient environments recorded by the stratigraphic rock record preserved at the Gale crater landing site. The Curiosity rover has a designed lifetime of at least one Mars year (∼23 months), and drive capability of at least 20 km. Curiosity’s science payload was specifically assembled to assess habitability and includes a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer and gas analyzer that will search for organic carbon in rocks, regolith fines, and the atmosphere (SAM instrument); an x-ray diffractometer that will determine mineralogical diversity (CheMin instrument); focusable cameras that can image landscapes and rock/regolith textures in natural color (MAHLI, MARDI, and Mastcam instruments); an alpha-particle x-ray spectrometer for in situ determination of rock and soil chemistry (APXS instrument); a laser-induced breakdown spectrometer to remotely sense the chemical composition of rocks and minerals (ChemCam instrument); an active neutron spectrometer designed to search for water in rocks/regolith (DAN instrument); a weather station to measure modern-day environmental variables (REMS instrument); and a sensor designed for continuous monitoring of background solar and cosmic radiation (RAD instrument). The various payload elements will work together to detect and study potential sampling targets with remote and in situ measurements; to acquire samples of rock, soil, and atmosphere and analyze them in onboard analytical instruments; and to observe the environment around the rover. The 155-km diameter Gale crater was chosen as Curiosity’s field site based on several attributes: an interior mountain of ancient flat-lying strata extending almost 5 km above the elevation of the landing site; the lower few hundred meters of the mountain show a progression with relative age from clay-bearing to sulfate-bearing strata, separated by an unconformity from overlying likely anhydrous strata; the landing ellipse is characterized by a mixture of alluvial fan and high thermal inertia/high albedo stratified deposits; and a number of stratigraphically/geomorphically distinct fluvial features. Samples of the crater wall and rim rock, and more recent to currently active surface materials also may be studied. Gale has a well-defined regional context and strong evidence for a progression through multiple potentially habitable environments. These environments are represented by a stratigraphic record of extraordinary extent, and insure preservation of a rich record of the environmental history of early Mars. The interior mountain of Gale Crater has been informally designated at Mount Sharp, in honor of the pioneering planetary scientist Robert Sharp. The major subsystems of the MSL Project consist of a single rover (with science payload), a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, an Earth-Mars cruise stage, an entry, descent, and landing system, a launch vehicle, and the mission operations and ground data systems. The primary communication path for downlink is relay through the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The primary path for uplink to the rover is Direct-from-Earth. The secondary paths for downlink are Direct-to-Earth and relay through the Mars Odyssey orbiter. Curiosity is a scaled version of the 6-wheel drive, 4-wheel steering, rocker bogie system from the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Spirit and Opportunity and the Mars Pathfinder Sojourner. Like Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity offers three primary modes of navigation: blind-drive, visual odometry, and visual odometry with hazard avoidance. Creation of terrain maps based on HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) and other remote sensing data were used to conduct simulated driving with Curiosity in these various modes, and allowed selection of the Gale crater landing site which requires climbing the base of a mountain to achieve its primary science goals. The Sample Acquisition, Processing, and Handling (SA/SPaH) subsystem is responsible for the acquisition of rock and soil samples from the Martian surface and the processing of these samples into fine particles that are then distributed to the analytical science instruments. The SA/SPaH subsystem is also responsible for the placement of the two contact instruments (APXS, MAHLI) on rock and soil targets. SA/SPaH consists of a robotic arm and turret-mounted devices on the end of the arm, which include a drill, brush, soil scoop, sample processing device, and the mechanical and electrical interfaces to the two contact science instruments. SA/SPaH also includes drill bit boxes, the organic check material, and an observation tray, which are all mounted on the front of the rover, and inlet cover mechanisms that are placed over the SAM and CheMin solid sample inlet tubes on the rover top deck.

695 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Paul R. Mahaffy1, Chris Webster2, Michel Cabane3, Pamela G. Conrad1, Patrice Coll4, Sushil K. Atreya5, Robert Arvey1, Michael Barciniak1, Mehdi Benna1, L. Bleacher1, William B. Brinckerhoff1, Jennifer L. Eigenbrode1, Daniel Carignan1, Mark Cascia1, Robert A. Chalmers1, Jason P. Dworkin1, Therese Errigo1, Paula Everson1, Heather B. Franz1, Rodger Farley1, Steven Feng1, Gregory Frazier1, Caroline Freissinet1, Daniel P. Glavin1, D. N. Harpold1, Douglas L. Hawk1, Vincent Holmes1, Christopher S. Johnson1, Andrea Jones1, Patrick R. Jordan1, James W. Kellogg1, Jesse Lewis1, Eric Lyness1, Charles Malespin1, David Martin1, John Maurer1, Amy McAdam1, Douglas McLennan1, T. Nolan1, Marvin Noriega1, Alexander A. Pavlov1, B. D. Prats1, E. Raaen1, Oren E. Sheinman1, D. Sheppard1, James Smith1, Jennifer C. Stern1, Florence Tan1, Melissa G. Trainer1, Douglas W. Ming, Richard V. Morris, John H. Jones, Cindy Gundersen, Andrew Steele6, James J. Wray7, Oliver Botta, Laurie A. Leshin8, Tobias Owen9, Steve Battel, Bruce M. Jakosky10, H. L. K. Manning11, Steven W. Squyres12, Rafael Navarro-González13, Christopher P. McKay14, François Raulin3, Robert Sternberg3, Arnaud Buch15, Paul Sorensen, Robert Kline-Schoder, David Coscia3, Cyril Szopa3, Samuel Teinturier3, Curt Baffes2, Jason Feldman2, Greg Flesch2, Siamak Forouhar2, Ray Garcia2, Didier Keymeulen2, Steve Woodward2, Bruce P. Block5, Ken Arnett5, Ryan M. Miller5, Charles Edmonson5, Stephen Gorevan16, E. Mumm16 
TL;DR: The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) investigation of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) addresses the chemical and isotopic composition of the atmosphere and volatiles extracted from solid samples.
Abstract: The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) investigation of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) addresses the chemical and isotopic composition of the atmosphere and volatiles extracted from solid samples. The SAM investigation is designed to contribute substantially to the mission goal of quantitatively assessing the habitability of Mars as an essential step in the search for past or present life on Mars. SAM is a 40 kg instrument suite located in the interior of MSL’s Curiosity rover. The SAM instruments are a quadrupole mass spectrometer, a tunable laser spectrometer, and a 6-column gas chromatograph all coupled through solid and gas processing systems to provide complementary information on the same samples. The SAM suite is able to measure a suite of light isotopes and to analyze volatiles directly from the atmosphere or thermally released from solid samples. In addition to measurements of simple inorganic compounds and noble gases SAM will conduct a sensitive search for organic compounds with either thermal or chemical extraction from sieved samples delivered by the sample processing system on the Curiosity rover’s robotic arm.

475 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
27 Sep 2013-Science
TL;DR: Samples from the Rocknest aeolian deposit were heated to ~835°C under helium flow and evolved gases analyzed by Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite, suggesting that oxygen is produced from thermal decomposition of an oxychloride compound.
Abstract: Samples from the Rocknest aeolian deposit were heated to ~835°C under helium flow and evolved gases analyzed by Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite. H2O, SO2, CO2, and O2 were the major gases released. Water abundance (1.5 to 3 weight percent) and release temperature suggest that H2O is bound within an amorphous component of the sample. Decomposition of fine-grained Fe or Mg carbonate is the likely source of much of the evolved CO2. Evolved O2 is coincident with the release of Cl, suggesting that oxygen is produced from thermal decomposition of an oxychloride compound. Elevated δD values are consistent with recent atmospheric exchange. Carbon isotopes indicate multiple carbon sources in the fines. Several simple organic compounds were detected, but they are not definitively martian in origin.

402 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20215
202012
201914
201815
201710
201616