Finding life on Mars could get easier with a creative adaption to a common analytical tool that can be installed directly on the robotic arm of a space rover.
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In a recent paper published online in the journal Planetary and Space Science, a team of researchers propose adding a laser and an ion funnel to a widely used scientific instrument, the mass spectrometer, to analyze the surfaces of rocks and other samples directly on Mars' surface. The researchers demonstrated that the combined system could work on the spot, without the sample handling that mass spectrometry usually requires.
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JPL asked PNNL to help test whether the combination of laser ablation and an ion funnel could make in situ, or "in place," mass spectrometry possible on Mars. A standard laboratory mass spectrometer was equipped with laser and an ion funnel attachments, and the ion funnel end was placed inside a sealed chamber that matched Mars' atmospheric conditions. The researchers shot laser pulses at various samples, such as copper, stainless steel and gypsum. As they suspected, a small layer of each sample's surface atoms was transformed into ions and the ion funnel quickly pulled them into the mass spectrometer, which identified the samples.
"This system could be developed into a 'point and shoot' instrument for space analysis," Johnson said.
