NASA to Use LIBS on Next Mars Rover
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.
Laser Ablation Molecular Isotopic Spectrometry: A New Dimension of LIBS
July 5th 2012Part of a new podcast series presented in collaboration with the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS), in connection with SciX 2012 — the Great Scientific Exchange, the North American conference (39th Annual) of FACSS.
New Multi-Spectroscopic System Enhances Cultural Heritage Analysis
April 2nd 2025A new study published in Talanta introduces SYSPECTRAL, a portable multi-spectroscopic system that can conduct non-invasive, in situ chemical analysis of cultural heritage materials by integrating LIBS, LIF, Raman, and reflectance spectroscopy into a single compact device.
