Uncovering the Mysteries of Mars Habitability

Multimedia · Tue Sep 05 00:00:00 EDT 2017

OSTI ID:1378472

Wiens, Roger; Lanza, Nina; Clegg, Sam; Gasda, Patrick

Los Alamos scientists are uncovering clues about the habitability of ancient Mars using the ChemCam instrument that sits atop NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover. ChemCam has discovered 25 different elements on Mars—including manganese and boron—providing important information about conditions that could potentially have supported life on the Red Planet. Los Alamos is now developing a new instrument called SuperCam that will ride aboard the Mars 2020 rover and provide greater detail about the mineralogy and the presence of compounds related to the possibility of life on the surface of Mars.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 1378472
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
LANL
CHEMCAM
SUPERCAM
LASER
CURIOSITY ROVER
MARS
MARS 2020
GALE CRATER
BORON
ELEMENTS
HABITABILITY