IN RESPONSE TO NASA'S SOLICITATION FOR LIGHT-WEIGHT AND POWER EFFICIENT INSTRUMENTS THAT ENABLE ELEMENTAL A…

Public award description

IN RESPONSE TO NASA'S SOLICITATION FOR LIGHT-WEIGHT AND POWER EFFICIENT INSTRUMENTS THAT ENABLE ELEMENTAL AND/OR MINERALOGY ANALYSIS, Q-PEAK, TOGETHER WITH FIRESTAR TECHNOLOGY AND THE COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES, PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A COMPACT, ROBUST AND EFFICIENT, INSTRUMENT CAPABLE OF PERFORMING, LASER-RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY AND LASER INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROSCOPY (LIBS). THE MAIN ADVANTAGES IN USING THESE TECHNIQUES FOR PLANETARY SCIENCE IS THE ABILITY TO RAPIDLY COLLECT A WEALTH OF CHEMICAL INFORMATION, BY SIMPLY DIRECTING A LASER BEAM ON REMOTE TARGETS OF INTEREST. AS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THE RAMAN/LIBS INSTRUMENT, Q PEAK PROPOSES TO DEVELOP, BUILD, AND TEST A MINIATURE Q-SWITCHED, SOLID STATE LASER, PRODUCING 1-3 MJ, NANOSECOND-DURATION PULSES AT 526 NM WAVELENGTH. WE WILL PRODUCE A PRELIMINARILY DESIGN FOR INTEGRATING THE LASER INTO A ROBOTIC ARM. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL UTILIZE A LOW-PRESSURE ULIBS INVESTIGATION FACILITY, AND SPECTROMETER AND AVAILABLE AT THE COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES, AND A PROCESSING ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT BEGUN UNDER AN ASTID AWARD. WE WILL INITIATE THE DESIGN REVIEW TO INTEGRATE THE ULIBS SYSTEM INTO THE CHAMP-SLS MICROSCOPE, A SPACEFLIGHT QUALIFIABLE MICROSCOPE WITH A LASER SPECTROSCOPY OPTICAL PATH.