Halma spectrometers land safely on Mars
08 August 2012
The Curiosity Rover survives a rigorous descent to the surface of the red planet with Halma instruments on board.
NASA's Mars Science Lab rover, Curiosity, has completed its eight month journey to Mars to study soil composition as part of the ChemCam mission. Curiosity was launched last November carrying customised spectrometers from Halma subsidiary Ocean Optics.
The Curiosity Rover has the most advanced scientific instrumentation ever used to study the surface of Mars and, weighing in at one ton, has the heaviest payload. The seven minute descent through Mars' atmosphere relied on a complex landing sequence never before attempted. To withstand the rigours of space travel and descent the on-board spectrometers were modified to handle extreme temperature ranges, radiation, shock and vibration.
The three modular, high-resolution miniature fibre-optic spectrometers will study Martian rock and soil composition using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Each spectrometer is configured to detect elemental signatures within a different range of wavelengths of light, as many chemical elements have spectral responses which are wider than the range covered by a single unit.
Ocean Optics' equipment has been used by NASA researchers for missions both in space and on Earth. A custom spectrometer named ALICE was instrumental in detecting the presence of water ice on the moon during the LCROSS mission. Another of the company's spectrometers was taken up Mount Everest by a team that included NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski to measure solar irradiance at extreme altitude.
