July 21, 2016

Instruments


Location of the instruments on the rover
  • CAAPXS (Alpha-Particle-X-ray-Spectrometer) determines elemental abundances in rocks and soil. Its PI is Ralf GELLERT, University of Guelph, Canada with a NASA cooperation.

  • CHEMCAM (CHEMistry CAMera) analyzes by spectrometry the plasma light emitted after a laser shot (from a distance of 1 to 9 m) by Martian rocks. Its PI is Roger Wiens from Los Alamos National Laboratory. It is constituted of the following two units:
    • FR The Mast Unit (mounted on the rover mast) is constituted of a laser, a telescope, and a camera (RMI: Remote Micro Imager). This suite is supplied by IRAP (ex-CESR).
    • The Body Unit (mounted on the rover's body) is constituted of three spectrometers, the power, and on-board management electronics. This suite is supplied by Los Alamos National Laboratory.
    The two units are linked by electric cables and optic fibres (supplied by JPL).


  • CHEMIN quantifies minerals and mineral structure of rock samples by X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence. Its PI is David Blake, NASA's Ames Research Centre, Moffett Field, California.

  • RUDAN (Dynamic of Albedo Neutrons) is a neutron detector for hydrogen measurement (including water). Its PI is Igor Mitrofanov, Russia.


  • MARDI (MARs Descent Imager) acquires high-resolution colour images during the descent and landing on MARS to give information on the geological context of the site. Its PI is Michael Malin from Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS).

  • MASTCAM (MAST CAMera) is a set of cameras to produce multispectral and stereoscopic images at distances ranging from a few centimetres to several kilometres as well as high definition videos (10 images/s). Its PI is Michael Malin from Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS), San Diego, California.

  • RAD (Radiation Assessment Detector) characterizes a wide range of radiations for the human exploration of the planet. Its PI is Donald Hassler, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado.

  • ESREMS (Rover Environmental Monitoring Station) is constituted of a meteorological package (wind, pressure, temperature measurements) and an ultraviolet sensor. Its PI is Luis Vasquez, Spain.

  • SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) performs mineralogical and atmospheric analyses; it  detects a wide range of organic compounds and performs organic stable isotopes and noble gas analyses. Its PI is Paul Mahaffy, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre (GSFC). This instrument suite is composed of the following instruments and sub-systems:
    • QMS (Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer), supplied by GSFC/NASA.
    • FRGC (Gas Chromatograph), supplied by LATMOS (ex-Service d'Aéronomie).
    • TLS (Tunable Laser Spectrometer) is an infrared spectrometer supplied by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
    • The Sample Manipulation System (SMS)
    • The Chemical Separation and Processing Laboratory (CSPL) (pyrolysis, deriving, combustion, enrichment)
    • Wide Range Pumps (WRP).