[meteorite-list] Laser Tool for Studying Mars Rocks Delivered to JPL (MSL)

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-310  

Laser Tool for Studying Mars Rocks Delivered to JPL
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
September 21, 2010

PASADENA, Calif. -- The NASA Mars Science Laboratory Project's rover,
Curiosity, will carry a newly delivered laser instrument named ChemCam
to reveal what elements are present in rocks and soils on Mars up to 7
meters (23 feet) away from the rover.

The laser zaps a pinhead-sized area on the target, vaporizing it. A
spectral analyzer then examines the flash of light produced to identify
what elements are present.

The completed and tested instrument has been shipped to JPL from Los
Alamos for installation onto the Curiosity rover at JPL.

ChemCam was conceived, designed and built by a U.S.-French team led by
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M.; NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; the Centre National d'Études Spatiales
(the French national space agency); and the Centre d'Étude Spatiale des
Rayonnements at the Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France.

For more information, see the Los Alamos National Laboratory news
release at
http://www.lanl.gov/news/releases/mars_mission_laser_tool_heads_to_jpl_newsrelease.html
.

Information about the Mars Science Laboratory mission is available at
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ and http://www.nasa.gov/msl .

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy,webster at jpl.nasa.gov

2010-310