Spectroscopy Online
CONTINUE TO SITE >

OR WAIT 15 SECS

Spectroscopy Online
Spotlight
Overcoming Fluorescence issues with MISAMISA Protecting Customers with the latest in Food Testing TechnologyRaman Spectroscopy as a Tool for the Quantitative Estimation of ChromiumAssignment of Raman Bands of a Set of Biopolymers
Topics
View MoreRamanIRICPX-ray AnalysisLIBSFluorescence
Publications
All PublicationsSpectroscopySpecial Issues
Columns
All ColumnsAtomic PerspectivesChemometrics in SpectroscopyFocus on QualityIR Spectral Interpretation WorkshopLasers and Optics InterfaceMolecular Spectroscopy Workbench
News
All NewsInterviewsSpectroscopy Sponsored News
App Notes
All Application NotesAtomic SpectroscopyGeneralMass SpectrometryMolecular Spectroscopy
WebcastsE-Books
Resources
ProductsSponsored PodcastsSpecTubeSponsored Videos
Subscribe
e-newslettersMagazine

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Editorial Contacts
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Ethics Statement
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Info
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2021 MJH Life Sciences and Spectroscopy Online. All rights reserved.

Spotlight
  • Overcoming Fluorescence issues with MISA
  • MISA Protecting Customers with the latest in Food Testing Technology
  • Raman Spectroscopy as a Tool for the Quantitative Estimation of Chromium
  • Assignment of Raman Bands of a Set of Biopolymers
TopicsSee All >
  • Raman
  • IR
  • ICP
  • X-ray Analysis
  • LIBS
  • Fluorescence
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Editorial Contacts
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Ethics Statement
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Info
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2021 MJH Life Sciences™ and Spectroscopy Online. All rights reserved.

NASA to Use LIBS on Next Mars Rover

February 19, 2010

NASA plans to utilize laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrumentation on the next Mars Rover, PEWPEW.

 

 

Gizmodo has reported that NASA plans to utilize laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrumentation on the next Mars Rover, PEWPEW. Working from the theory: “The best way to figure out what something’s made of? Vaporize it, ” NASA plans to use a LIBS-based device called a ChemCam on the Mars Curiosity, launching next year.The system will sends an average of three 10-watt, five-nanosecond laser pulses per second in order to analyze rock samples on the red planet.

The laser shots vaporize a crater less than a millimeter across, turning its molecules into a 14, 000-degree plasma. The atoms are shorn of their electrons, but as the plasma ball cools down, they return to a more normal state. The electrons drop into their orbits around the nucleus and as they do so, the little plasma ball emits light. The spectra then emitted will tell scientists exactly what element they are looking at when passed through a spectrometer, which can precisely measure the wavelength of light.