Geology
Collecting Martian samples and retrieving them for analysis to uncover the planet’s history and identify resources for exploration.
In-Situ Analysis in Sample Return Missions: Optimizing Space Exploration
by Marina Martinez
The project aims to optimize a sample return mission using two instruments: an X-ray fluorescence gun and an energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (ED-XRF). These instruments enable the collection of in-situ compositional information, which is crucial for improving the quality of collected samples rather than prioritizing quantity. Moreover, the two instruments complement each other by bridging field studies and work in the station’s science dome to obtain precise chemical data and select the best sample collection.
This strategy offers several advantages:
- Greater adaptability: The mission can adjust in real-time based on the data obtained.
- Pristine sample analysis: Ensures samples remain unaltered.
- Better sample selection: Increases petrographic variability and suitability for specific analyses.
- Improved resource efficiency: Requires less storage space.
The goal is to maximize the scientific value of the samples collected in future space missions to the Moon or Mars.
Life on earth is such a good story you cannot afford to miss the beginning… Beneath our superficial differences we are all of us walking communities of bacteria. The world shimmers, a pointillist landscape made of tiny living beings. Life did not take over the world by combat, but by networking.
— Lynn Margulis, the biologist who articulated the endosymbiotic theory