THE DESIGN OF A MAN-PORTABLE GAS CHROMATOGRAPH / MASS SPECTROMETER (GCMS) BASED UPON THE VIKING MARS LANDER INSTRUMENT IS OUTLINED, TOGETHER WITH ITS APPLICATION AS A DETECTOR OF A BROAD RANGE OF CHEMICALS.

THE DESIGN OF A MAN-PORTABLE GAS CHROMATOGRAPH / MASS SPECTROMETER (GCMS) BASED UPON THE VIKING MARS LANDER INSTRUMENT IS OUTLINED, TOGETHER WITH ITS APPLICATION AS A DETECTOR OF A BROAD RANGE OF CHEMICALS. THE PRINCIPAL BENEFITS OF SUCH AN INSTRUMENT ARE ITS PORTABILITY WHICH ALLOWS MEASUREMENTS TO BE MADE ON-SITE, ITS RUGGED, SIMPLE OPERATION, AND ITS ULTRA SENSITIVITY (AS A RESULT OF THE RESEARCH DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL) TOGETHER WITH THE ABILITY TO GIVE UNAMBIGUOUS IDENTIFICATIONOF UNKOWN COMPOUNDS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF ADDING AN ELECTRO OPTICAL ION DETECTOR (EOID) TO SUCH AN INSTRUMENT, DETERMINE ITS TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY AND PERFORM LIMITED TESTING ON A BREADBOARD INSTRUMENT THAT IS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING MODIFICA-TION IN THE LABORATORY. THE ADDITION OF A MINIATURIZED EOIDTO THIS MICRO-GCMS SYSTEM WILL RESULT IN A DETECTION SENSITIVITY (LIMIT OF DETECTION) OF 10(-15) GM. THE COMBINATION OF THE PORTABILITY AND RESULTING SENSITIVITY OF THE PROPOSED MICRO-GCMS/EOID WILL CONSTITUTE A SIGNIFICANT ADVANCE IN CHEMICAL INSTRUMENTATION. A PORTABLE MICRO-GCMS WITH PERFORMANCE COMPARABLE TO LABORATORY GCMS INSTRUMENTS WILL FREE THIS POWERFUL SCIEN- TIFIC TOOL FROM THE LABORATORY FOR USE IN A BROAD SPECTRUM OF APPLICATIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL, HEALTH, SAFTEY, AND FORENSIC TESTING.