TO ADVANCE THE IN-SITU INSTRUMENT TECHNOLOGIES AND COMPONENTS FOCUSED ON THE DETECTION OF EVIDENCE OF LIFE,…

Public award description

TO ADVANCE THE IN-SITU INSTRUMENT TECHNOLOGIES AND COMPONENTS FOCUSED ON THE DETECTION OF EVIDENCE OF LIFE, Q-PEAK PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A UV LASER WITH VERY LOW SIZE-WEIGHTAND- POWER THAT CAN BE USED FOR LASER-DESORPTION-MASS-SPECTROSCOPY (LDMS) TO DETECT BIO-SIGNATURES. A MINIATURE LDMS, HAS BEEN DEVELOPED FOR THE MARS-ORGANIC-MOLECULE-ANALYZER (MOMA) INSTRUMENT AT NASA-GSFC FOR THE EXOMARS MISSION, EXPECTED TO LAUNCH IN 2020. THE MOMA INSTRUMENT HAS A UV LASER THAT IS AT LEAST THREE TIMES BIGGER IN SIZE COMPARED TO THE Q-PEAK LASER. THE MOMA INSTRUMENT CAN BE USED IN FUTURE MISSIONS TO TITAN AND EUROPA TO STUDY THE THOLINS AND ICY WATER. FOR MISSION LIKE EUROPA-LANDER A RADIATION HARDENED INSTRUMENT IS NEEDED AND IN THIS PROGRAM Q-PEAK WILL MAKE THE SUITABLE LASER. THE LASER WILL HAVE A MODULAR FORM FACTOR TO PRODUCE 1064-NM AS THE FUNDAMENTAL WAVELENGTH AND THEN FREQUENCY-UPCONVERT IN TWO STAGES; SECOND-HARMONIC-GENERATION TO PRODUCE 532 NM AND FOURTH-HARMONIC-GENERATION 266-NM USING THE APPROPRIATE NONLINEAR CRYSTALS. WHEN THE LASER IS SET TO PRODUCE 532-NM, IT IS SUITABLE TO PERFORM RAMAN-SPECTROSCOPY AS A COMPLEMENTARY ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC MOLECULES. WHEN SET TO PRODUCE 1064-NM, IT IS SUITABLE FOR LASER-INDUCEDBREAKDOWN- SPECTROSCOPY WHICH IS ANOTHER TECHNIQUE TO PERFORM COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC/INORGANIC SAMPLES.