P43B-2128
First use of SAM onboard calibration gas cell
Thursday, 17 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Charles Malespin1,2, Melissa G Trainer3, Heidi L Manning4, Heather B. Franz5, Pamela Gales Conrad1, Eric Raaen1, Christopher R Webster6, Gregory Flesch6, Jennifer L Eigenbrode1, Michael H Wong7 and Paul R Mahaffy1, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)Universities Space Research Association Greenbelt, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (3)NASA Goddard SFC, Silver Spring, MD, United States, (4)Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, United States, (5)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (6)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (7)University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
Abstract:
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument (Mahaffy et al 2012) suite on Curiosity completed its first measurement of the onboard calibration gas cell on MSL Mission Sol 1042. The cell consists of a gas mixture of four primary gases, along with trace fluorinated hydrocarbon high mass calibrants. The mix is comprised of approximately 25% CO2, N2, Xe and Ar, where the 129Xe has been given a three times enrichment relative to terrestrial xenon in order to distinguish it isotopically from Martian atmospheric Xe. Analysis of the calibration cell is intended to identify changes in instrument performance between pre-launch calibrations and operations on Mars, for any of the three main subsystems in SAM: the Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (QMS), Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS), and Gas Chromatograph (GC). Here we present the experimental approach, results, and implications for instrument performance after almost three years of measurements on Mars.
