The ChemCam Instrument Suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover: Science Objectives and Mast Unit Description

Maurice, S.; Wiens, R. C.; Saccoccio, M.; Barraclough, B. L.; Gasnault, O.; Forni, O.; Mangold, N.; Baratoux, D.; Bender, Steve; Berger, G.; Bernardin, John D.; Bridges, N. T.; Blaney, D. L.; Bouyé, M.; Caïs, Phillippe; Clark, B. C.; Clegg, S. M.; Cousin, A.; Cremers, David A.; Cros, A.; DeFlores, L.; Derycke, C.; Dingler, B.; Dromart, G.; Dubois, B.; Dupieux, M.; Durand, Éric; d’Uston, L.; Fabre, C.; Faure, Benoît; Gaboriaud, Alain; Gharsa, T.; Herkenhoff, K. E.; Kan, Ed; Kirkland, L. E.; Kouach, Driss; Lacour, Jean-Luc; Langevin, Y.; Lasue, J.; Mouëlic, Stéphane Le; Lescure, M.; Lewin, É.; Limonadi, D.; Manhès, G.; Mauchien, P.; McKay, Christopher P.; Meslin, Pierre‐Yves; Michel, Yann; Miller, E.; Newsom, H. E.; Orttner, G.; Paillet, Alexis; Parès, L.; Parot, Yann; Perez, René; Pinet, P.; Poitrasson, Franck; Quertier, Benjamin; Sallé, B.; Sotin, C.; Sautter, V.; Séran, H. C.; Simmonds, John J.; Sirven, Jean-Baptiste; Stiglich, R.; Striebig, Nicolas; Thocaven, J.-J.; Toplis, M. J.; Vaniman, D. T.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6339-9_6

Cited by 109 publications

(178 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…APXS "rasters", involving multiple, closely spaced measurements, were employed on two diagenetic features: fracture fills (Sayunei) and raised ridges (McGrath) and these results are provided in Table S4, which also includes the suggested sedimentary dike (Snake_River analysis). The ChemCam LIBS instrument provides semi-quantitative analyses for major and some minor and trace elements (e.g., Ba, Rb, Sr, Li) using multiple laser pulses (shots) on ~350-550 µm diameter targets from up to 7 meters distance (62,63). The first ~5 shots remove surface dust and the rock analyses are based on averages of subsequent shots.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elemental Geochemistry of Sedimentary Rocks at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars

McLennan

Anderson

Bell

et al. 2014

Science

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Sedimentary rocks examined by the Curiosity rover at Yellowknife Bay, Mars, were derived from sources that evolved from approximately average Martian crustal composition to one influenced by alkaline basalts. No evidence of chemical weathering is preserved indicating arid, possibly cold, paleoclimates and rapid erosion/deposition. Absence of predicted geochemical variations indicates that magnetite and phyllosilicates formed by diagenesis under low temperature, circum-neutral pH, rock-dominated aqueous conditions. High spatial resolution analyses of diagenetic features, including concretions, raised ridges and fractures, indicate they are composed of iron-and halogen-rich components, magnesium-iron-chlorine-rich components and hydrated calcium-sulfates, respectively. Composition of a cross-cutting dike-like feature is consistent with sedimentary intrusion. Geochemistry of these sedimentary rocks provides further evidence for diverse depositional and diagenetic sedimentary environments during the early history of Mars.Introduction: Shortly after leaving its landing site at Bradbury Landing in Gale crater, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover traversed to Yellowknife Bay (1), where it encountered a flat-lying, ~5.2 meter thick succession of weakly indurated clastic sedimentary rocks ranging from mudstones at the base to mainly sandstones at the top (2). Stratigraphic relationships and

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elemental Geochemistry of Sedimentary Rocks at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars

McLennan

Anderson

Bell

et al. 2014

Science

Self Cite

260

404

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“…Moreover, successive LIBS shots on a single location gave no evidence of a surface coating or crust, but suggested instead a thin dust layer that was penetrated within 1-2 laser shots (3). Individual LIBS shots involved a spot size of ~0.45 mm and a penetration depth of ~0.5 µm (86,87). Although the differences between the JM1 and JM2n analyses (the two long-duration analyses; Table 1) are small in an absolute sense, none of the concentrations except Cr 2 O 3 overlap at the 2σ level.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ChemCam Analyses Fourteen locations were analyzed by ChemCam (86,87) on JM with two sets of measurements (3, 88): a 5-point line-scan with points separated by ~6 mm on sol 45 while the target was at a distance of 3.8 m, and a 3×3 raster (total of 9 LIBS points separated by 7 mm horizontally and ~10 mm vertically) on sol 48 while the target was at a distance of 3.2 m (Figs. 1, S1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Petrochemistry of Jake_M: A Martian Mugearite

Stolper

Baker

Newcombe

et al. 2013

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Jake_M, the first rock analyzed by the APXS instrument on the Curiosity rover, differs significantly in chemical composition from other known martian igneous rocks: It is alkaline (>15% normative nepheline) and relatively fractionated. Jake_M is similar compositionally to terrestrial mugearites, a rock type typically found at ocean islands and continental rifts. By analogy with these comparable terrestrial rocks, Jake_M could have been produced by extensive fractional crystallization of a primary alkaline or transitional magma at elevated pressure, with or without elevated water contents. The discovery of Jake_M suggests that alkaline magmas may be more abundant on Mars than on Earth and that Curiosity could encounter even more fractionated alkaline rocks (e.g., phonolites and trachytes). Introduction:

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“…The detection of high hydrogen content might suggest the existence of water ice or brines in the shallow subsurface. If evidence for brines is found, they could be investigated in detail with analytical instruments such as SAM (Mahaffy et al 2012), ChemCam (Maurice et al 2012), CheMin , APXS (Campbell et al 2012), as well as with cameras such as MAHLI , MastCam and ECAM . SAM is capable of measuring the amount and composition of volatiles released by a small soil sample as a function of temperature as the sample is heated.…”

Section: Implications For Mslmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These instruments include: (i) the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station developed to measure atmospheric pressure, atmospheric humidity, ground and atmospheric temperatures, and UV radiation fluxes (Gómez-Elvira et al 2012); (ii) the Sample Analysis at Mars suite (SAM) developed to analyze the atmospheric composition and volatiles from soil samples, including water vapor (Mahaffy et al 2012); (iii) the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument developed to measure the subsurface hydrogen content down to about one meter below the surface (Mitrofanov et al 2012); (iv) the Mast Camera (MastCam) developed to image the rover's surroundings in high-resolution stereo and color; (v) the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument developed to vaporize thin layers of material from Martian rocks and soils with a laser beam to identify the elements excited by it, and a telescope to capture detailed images of the area analyzed (Maurice et al 2012); (vi) the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument developed to identify and characterize the mineralogy of rocks and soils ; (vii) the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) developed to determine the relative abundances of different elements in rocks and soils (Campbell et al 2012); (viii) the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) developed to take close-up images of rocks, soils and, if present, water ice and brines ; and a few other instruments including engineering cameras (ECAM) ) capable of detecting evidence for frost and deliquescence if it occurs near the rover.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water and Brines on Mars: Current Evidence and Implications for MSL

2013

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Liquid water is a basic ingredient for life as we know it. Therefore, in order to understand the habitability of other planets we must first understand the behavior of water on them. Mars is the most Earth-like planet in the solar system and it has large reservoirs of H 2 O. Here, we review the current evidence for pure liquid water and brines on Mars, and discuss their implications for future and current missions such as the Mars Science Laboratory.Neither liquid water nor liquid brines are currently stable on the surface of Mars, but they could be present temporarily in a few areas of the planet. Pure liquid water is unlikely to be present, even temporarily, on the surface of Mars because evaporation into the extremely dry atmosphere would inhibit the formation of the liquid phase, where the temperature and pressure are high enough so that water would neither freeze nor boil. The exception to this is that monolayers of liquid water, referred to as undercooled liquid interfacial water, could exist on most of the Martian surface. In a few places liquid brines could exist temporarily on the surface because they could form at cryogenic temperatures, near ice or frost deposits where sublimation could be inhibited by the presence of nearly saturated air.Both liquid water and liquid brines might exist in the shallow subsurface because even a thin layer of soil forms an effective barrier against sublimation allowing pure liquid water to form sporadically in a few places, or liquid brines to form over longer periods of time in large portions of the planet. At greater depths, ice deposits could melt where the soil conductivity is low enough to blanket the deeper subsurface effectively. This could cause the formation of aquifers if the deeper soil is sufficiently permeable and an impermeable layer exists below the source of water.The fact that liquid brines and groundwater are likely to exist on Mars has important implications for geochemistry, glaciology, mineralogy, weathering and the habitability of Mars.

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The ChemCam Instrument Suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover: Science Objectives and Mast Unit Description

Cited by 109 publications

References 54 publications

Elemental Geochemistry of Sedimentary Rocks at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars

Elemental Geochemistry of Sedimentary Rocks at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars

The Petrochemistry of Jake_M: A Martian Mugearite

Water and Brines on Mars: Current Evidence and Implications for MSL

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