The Sample Analysis at Mars Investigation and Instrument Suite

P. R. Mahaffy(Goddard Space Flight Center), Christopher R. Webster(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), M. Cabane(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), P. G. Conrad(Goddard Space Flight Center), Patrice Coll(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), S. K. Atreya(University of Michigan), Robert Arvey(Goddard Space Flight Center), Michael Barciniak(Goddard Space Flight Center), M. Benna(Goddard Space Flight Center), L. V. Bleacher(Goddard Space Flight Center), W. B. Brinckerhoff(Goddard Space Flight Center), J. L. Eigenbrode(Goddard Space Flight Center), Daniel Carignan(Goddard Space Flight Center), Mark Cascia(Goddard Space Flight Center), Robert A. Chalmers(Goddard Space Flight Center), Jason P. Dworkin(Goddard Space Flight Center), Therese Errigo(Goddard Space Flight Center), Paula Everson(Goddard Space Flight Center), H. B. Franz(Goddard Space Flight Center), Rodger Farley(Goddard Space Flight Center), Steven Feng(Goddard Space Flight Center), Gregory Frazier(Goddard Space Flight Center), Caroline Freissinet(Goddard Space Flight Center), D. P. Glavin(Goddard Space Flight Center), Daniel Harpold(Goddard Space Flight Center), Douglas Hawk(Goddard Space Flight Center), Vincent Holmes(Goddard Space Flight Center), Christopher S. Johnson(Goddard Space Flight Center), Andrea Jones(Goddard Space Flight Center), Patrick R. Jordan(Goddard Space Flight Center), James Kellogg(Goddard Space Flight Center), Jesse Lewis(Goddard Space Flight Center), Eric Lyness(Goddard Space Flight Center), C. A. Malespin(Goddard Space Flight Center), David K. Martin(Goddard Space Flight Center), John Maurer(Goddard Space Flight Center), A. C. McAdam(Goddard Space Flight Center), Douglas McLennan(Goddard Space Flight Center), T. Nolan(Goddard Space Flight Center), Marvin Noriega(Goddard Space Flight Center), Alexander A. Pavlov(Goddard Space Flight Center), Benito Prats(Goddard Space Flight Center), E. Raaen(Goddard Space Flight Center), Oren Sheinman(Goddard Space Flight Center), D. Sheppard(Goddard Space Flight Center), James S. Smith(Goddard Space Flight Center), J. C. Stern(Goddard Space Flight Center), Florence Tan(Goddard Space Flight Center), M. G. Trainer(Goddard Space Flight Center), D. W. Ming(Johnson Space Center), R. V. Morris(Johnson Space Center), J. H. Jones(Johnson Space Center), Cindy Gundersen, A. Steele(Carnegie Institution for Science), J. J. Wray(Georgia Institute of Technology), Oliver Botta(International Space Science Institute), L. A. Leshin(Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Tobias Owen(University of Hawaii System), Steve Battel, B. M. Jakosky(University of Colorado Boulder), H. L. K. Manning(Concordia College - Minnesota), S. W. Squyres(Cornell University), R. Navarro‐González(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), Christopher P. McKay(Ames Research Center), F. Raulin(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), R. Sternberg(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), A. Buch(École Centrale Paris), Paul Sorensen(Creare (United States)), Robert Kline-Schoder(Creare (United States)), David Coscia(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Cyril Szopa(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Samuel Teinturier(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Curt Baffes(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Jason Feldman(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Greg Flesch(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Siamak Forouhar(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Ray Garcia(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Didier Keymeulen(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Steve Woodward(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Bruce Block(University of Michigan), Ken Arnett(University of Michigan), Ryan Miller(University of Michigan), Charles Edmonson(University of Michigan), Stephen Gorevan(Honeybee Robotics (United States)), E. Mumm(Honeybee Robotics (United States))
Space Science Reviews
April 26, 2012
10.1007/s11214-012-9879-z
Cited by 563Open Access
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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.

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