Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to MSL "ChemCAM"

A mobile LIBS tank.

Looks like Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy. Not strictly a Chemical imager, but rather an elemental imager. The distinction is this: You can tell the elemental composition of a substance, modulated by the ionizability of the elements themselves.

It does not detect the chemical state these elements are in, unless it's paired with a Raman flourescence detection capability. The press release just mentions a plasma though which seems to rule this out.

Still potentially powerful though. Especially when paired with a library of mineral reactions to this technique.

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