Transcript MarsSciLab
MARS SCIENCE LAB TABLE OF CONTENTS Image from NASA Table of Contents: • Mission Overview • Timeline • Scientific Objectives • Spacecraft • Equipment • Links Artist’s render of MSL on Mars. MARS SCIENCE LAB MISSION OVERVIEW Back to Table of Contents Image from NASA • The Mars Science Lab is a 2009 international effort to study the conditions of Mars and further determine whether it could sustain life. Artist’s render of MSL on Mars. MARS SCIENCE LAB TIMELINE Back to Table of Contents Image from NASA • September or October 2009: MSL launches. • Summer 2010: MSL lands on the surface of Mars. • 2012: MSL will end operations. MSL landing with “sky-crane.” MARS SCIENCE LAB SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES Back to Table of Contents Image from NASA • To detect any carbonbased compounds. • To determine whether life could be sustained on Mars. • To study the distribution of water. • To investigate the nature and history of Mars’s atmosphere. • To investigate the processes that formed and modified rocks on the surface. MSL drilling. MARS SCIENCE LAB SPACECRAFT Back to Table of Contents Image from NASA • The rover is twice as long and four times as heavy as Spirit and Opportunity. • Upon landing, MSL will separate from its shell and eventually be lowered by a skycrane, which will help the rover land softly. MSL’s landing sequence. MARS SCIENCE LAB EQUIPMENT INDEX Image from NASA Equipment Index: • Cameras • Spectrometers • Radiation Detectors • Environmental Sensors MSL Back to Table of Contents MARS SCIENCE LAB CAMERAS • MSL is equipped with three cameras: Back to Equipment Index Image from NASA – The Mast Camera (MastCam) can take highdef images and videos. – The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) takes close-up pictures of rocks and can identify minerals in samples. – The Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) takes pictures of the surface during the spacecraft’s descent. MastCam MARS SCIENCE LAB SPECTROMETERS • MSL is equipped with four spectrometers: Back to Equipment Index Image from NASA – The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) uses X-Rays to determine the chemical composition of samples. – Laser-Induced Remote Sensing for Chemistry and Micro-Imaging (ChemCam) uses a laser to vaporize materials and then identifies the type and composition of the rock being studied. – Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction (CheMin) measures the abundances of minerals. – The Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Suite (SAM) studies the abundances of various isotopes of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. ChemCam in action. MARS SCIENCE LAB RADIATION DETECTORS • MSL is equipped with two radiation detectors: Back to Equipment Index Image from NASA – The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) measures and identifies radiation in Mars’s atmosphere. – Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) shoots neutrons underground to detect if they are absorbed by water. If there is no water, the neutrons should reflect back at a rapid rate. An illustration of how DAN works. MARS SCIENCE LAB ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS Back to Equipment Index Image from NASA • The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) measures atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction, and ultraviolet radiation. REMS MARS SCIENCE LAB LINKS Image from NASA • http://marsprogram. jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ • http://mars.jpl.nasa. gov/missions/future /msl.html • http://marsprogram. jpl.nasa.gov/msl/gal lery/videos.html Artist’s render of MSL on Mars. Back to Table of Contents