Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity Rover (IMAGE)

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity Rover

Caption

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory is part of one of many space exploration missions that have used mass spectrometry to analyze rocks and soils. But current techniques require samples to be heavily prepared, which can harm results. Recent research shows that adding a laser and an ion funnel to a mass spectrometer enables analysis on Mars’ surface without handling samples.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech

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