Abstract
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) investigation of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) addresses the chemical and isotopic composition of the atmosphere and volatiles extracted from solid samples. The SAM investigation is designed to contribute substantially to the mission goal of quantitatively assessing the habitability of Mars as an essential step in the search for past or present life on Mars. SAM is a 40 kg instrument suite located in the interior of MSL’s Curiosity rover. The SAM instruments are a quadrupole mass spectrometer, a tunable laser spectrometer, and a 6-column gas chromatograph all coupled through solid and gas processing systems to provide complementary information on the same samples. The SAM suite is able to measure a suite of light isotopes and to analyze volatiles directly from the atmosphere or thermally released from solid samples. In addition to measurements of simple inorganic compounds and noble gases SAM will conduct a sensitive search for organic compounds with either thermal or chemical extraction from sieved samples delivered by the sample processing system on the Curiosity rover’s robotic arm.
Highlights
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) investigation addresses three primary science questions to contribute to the mission goal of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) to quantitatively assess the habitability potential of Mars: What does the inventory of carbon compounds, or lack thereof, near the surface of Mars reveal about its potential habitability? What are the chemical and isotopic states of the lighter elements in the rocks, soils, and atmosphere and what do these reveal about potential habitability? How were past environmental conditions different from today’s?Diverse environments from different epochs of Mars’ history have been revealed with increasing detail in recent years through orbital survey and landed missions
We summarize the current state of knowledge in several target measurement areas, describe the SAM analytical approach within the MSL operation plan, give an overview of the measurement requirements and capabilities of the individual and integrated SAM instruments (Figs. 1, 2, and 3), and discuss scientific synergies with other MSL investigations
Control of the SAM suite is achieved by a high level script language that allows the SAM technical and science team members to control the sequence of operations of the three instruments, the Solid Sample Inlet Tube (SSIT), the Sample Manipulation System (SMS), the Wide Range Pumps (WRPs), and the valves and heaters of the Gas Processing System (GPS)
Summary
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) investigation addresses three primary science questions to contribute to the mission goal of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) to quantitatively assess the habitability potential of Mars:. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has systematically acquired high-resolution imaging and spectroscopic studies of Gale Crater and the surrounding regions (Zurek and Smrekar 2007) These data have enabled a more detailed understanding of the landscape that MSL will traverse and the broader context of this site. The primary science goals for the MSL mission are to assess the biological potential of the landing site, to characterize its geology and geochemistry, to investigate the role of water, and to measure the spectrum of surface radiation. Investigations of atmospheric composition will provide additional clues to the history of volatiles and climate This manuscript describes the SAM instrument suite and how the SAM experiments expect to address these mission goals.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
