(Daily News Scan - DNS English) NASA Mars Explorer SuperCam
In its mission to Mars, NASA will be sending a new laser- toting robot. This laser toting robot is called SUPERCAM and it is one of the seven instruments aboard the Mars 2020 rover. It will study mineralogy and chemistry from up to about 7 metres away. It might be helpful for the scientist to find the signs of fossilised microbial life on Mars.
NASA will be sending its rover on the surface of Mars to search for evidence of Mars’ past habitability. It will also find out about the possible existence of life (past and present). To accomplish this task NASA will be sending SuperCam. This SuperCam includes a camera, a laser, and spectrometers and is mounted to the rover’s head. It combines several sizeable devices into one package that is essentially the size of a cereal box. It fires a pulsed laser beam out of the rover’s head to vaporise small portions of rock from a distance, providing information that will be essential to the mission’s success.
The SuperCam will use artificial intelligence to seek out targets worth analyzing when mission controllers are unavailable. The Artificial Intelligence used by the rover will be an upgraded version that will allow SuperCam to point itself very precisely at small rock features. From more than 7 m away, SuperCam can fire a laser to study rock targets smaller than a pencil point that lets the rover study spots it can’t reach with its arm.
SuperCam looks at rock textures and chemicals to find those that formed or changed in water on Mars long ago. The SuperCam will be vital for the selection of rock core samples that will be added to the rover’s sample caching system. These samples will be collected in metal tubes and deposited in a predetermined location for a future mission to retrieve and brought back to Earth.
A green laser is a new feature that can help in determining the molecular composition of surface materials by exciting their chemical bonds. The SuperCam will be able to use solar reflected visible and infrared light to spot specific type of minerals. For the purpose of future and benefit of future explorers, SuperCam identifies which elements in the Martian dust may be harmful to humans. Scientists can learn about how atmospheric molecules, water ice, and dust absorb or reflect solar radiation. This will help predict Martian weather better.
SuperCam also includes a microphone so that scientists will be able to listen to the resulting sound whenever the laser hits a target. The Mars 2020 rover marks the third time this particular microphone design will go to the Red Planet. In 1990s, the same design rode aboard the Mars Polar Lander, which crashed on the surface. In the year 2008, the Phoenix mission experienced electronics issues that prevented the microphone from being used.
SuperCam’s cameras have super vision. Not only this, its spectrometers have super senses for identifying chemical makeup of Martian rocks and soil. It can analyze and see through great distances to measure targets not reachable by the rover's other tools. It can also take color pictures instead of black and white.
