We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Characterization and Calibration of the CheMin Mineralogical Instrument on Mars Science Laboratory.
- Authors
Blake, David; Vaniman, David; Achilles, Cherie; Anderson, Robert; Bish, David; Bristow, Tom; Chen, Curtis; Chipera, Steve; Crisp, Joy; Des Marais, David; Downs, Robert; Farmer, Jack; Feldman, Sabrina; Fonda, Mark; Gailhanou, Marc; Ma, Hongwei; Ming, Doug; Morris, Richard; Sarrazin, Philippe; Stolper, Ed
- Abstract
A principal goal of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity is to identify and characterize past habitable environments on Mars. Determination of the mineralogical and chemical composition of Martian rocks and soils constrains their formation and alteration pathways, providing information on climate and habitability through time. The CheMin X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument on MSL will return accurate mineralogical identifications and quantitative phase abundances for scooped soil samples and drilled rock powders collected at Gale Crater during Curiosity's 1-Mars-year nominal mission. The instrument has a Co X-ray source and a cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) detector arranged in transmission geometry with the sample. CheMin's angular range of 5 to 50 2 θ with <0.35 2 θ resolution is sufficient to identify and quantify virtually all minerals. CheMin's XRF requirement was descoped for technical and budgetary reasons. However, X-ray energy discrimination is still required to separate Co K α from Co K β and Fe K α photons. The X-ray energy-dispersive histograms (EDH) returned along with XRD for instrument evaluation should be useful in identifying elements Z>13 that are contained in the sample. The CheMin XRD is equipped with internal chemical and mineralogical standards and 27 reusable sample cells with either Mylar or Kapton windows to accommodate acidic-to-basic environmental conditions. The CheMin flight model (FM) instrument will be calibrated utilizing analyses of common samples against a demonstration-model (DM) instrument and CheMin-like laboratory instruments. The samples include phyllosilicate and sulfate minerals that are expected at Gale crater on the basis of remote sensing observations.
- Subjects
ASTRONAUTICAL laboratories; CALIBRATION; ASTROMINERALOGY; CURIOSITY (Spacecraft); X-ray diffraction; QUANTITATIVE research; X-ray spectroscopy; MARS (Planet)
- Publication
Space Science Reviews, 2012, Vol 170, Issue 1-4, p341
- ISSN
0038-6308
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11214-012-9905-1