CODEX Instrument Pic (IMAGE)

Southwest Research Institute

CODEX Instrument Pic

Caption

SwRI is designing the CODEX instrument to use radioisotope dating techniques in situ to determine the age of rocks on other planets or moons. With fiver lasers and a mass spectrometer, the 20-inch-cube instrument is designed to vaporize tiny bits of rock and measure the elements present to pin down the rock's age with previously unmet precision.

Credit

Tom Whitaker, SwRI

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