December 14, 2012, 3:10 pm to 4:00 pm

"Imaging on the Red Planet," by Austin Godber, Arizona State University (Physics Colloquium Series)

Austin Godber is a tech support analyst senior in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University.

Abstract:NASA's latest Mars rover, Curiosity, is officially known as the Mars Science Laboratory, or MSL. This is an apt name for the most sophisticated and diverse suite of scientific equipment ever operated on the surface of another celestial body. The rover features an Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and ChemCam which consists of the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) and its partner, the Remote Micro-Imager (RMI). Also included is an X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) instrument known as CheMin. SAM, the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument, offers the triple threat of a Gas Chromatograph, Tunable Laser Spectrometer, and Quadupole Mass Spectrometer. A pair of radiation detectors, RAD and DAN, are also at hard at work along with the only operational weather station on Mars, REMS. Last but not least are the three scientific cameras MARDI, MAHLI, and Mastcam. All powered by the radioactive decay of 4.8 kg of Pu-238 in its Multi Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator.

I will provide a quick overview of the mission to date followed by a discussion of how we calibrate CCD cameras equipped with a set of optical filters to produce spectra at visible and near IR wavelengths.

Reception to follow.

Location: Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall (Hayes 109)

Sponsor: Department of Physics

Contact: Connie M. Miller

Email: millercm@kenyon.edu

Phone: (740) 427-5069

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