The Analysis of Planetary Surfaces

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This proposal will develop new knowledge of planetary surfaces through developing and deploying instruments on planetary science missions. This detailed objectives of this proposal are to: 1. Participate in missions to develop and validate hypotheses about planetary bodies in a manner that is only possible with in-situ observations. 2.Develop new instruments and/or analytical techniques for future missions 3.During the development of instruments and instrument concepts, validate these instruments and instrument concepts through the study of surface analogues in relevant environments. 4.Develop a body of knowledge about the effects of environment on the physical properties of astromaterials and on the measurement of these materials. 5.Provide a training in instrumentation and analytical techniques for HQP applicable to the planetary sciences and transferable to other research areas and industries. To accomplish these long-term objectives in the context of this proposal, we propose to continue our improvement, validation and analysis of the data from the OSIRIS-REx laser altimeter (OLA).  OLA has allowed us to create the most detailed model of any solar system object using almost 3 billion individual measurements of this 500m diameter asteroid.  Considerable effort has gone into improving instrument calibrations of this model using the spaceflight data.  The investigations outlined in this proposal will start when the mission-support contracts end and will provide funding for regional analyses and a quantitative understanding of the resolution limits of the model and, therefore, the limits of the scientific analyses possible..  Further improvements of the instrument calibration and data fidelity are also probable outcomes.  Having led these activities as the lead OLA scientist for more than a decade, I have the skills and background knowledge necessary to do this. We will also work to develop the analysis techniques and calibration approaches for our micro-thermal analysis of the returned OSIRIS-REx sample. As a second research area, one that is of particular importance to our HQP training goals, we will continue our instrument and data analysis technique development along with using our unique planetary surface environment simulation facilities to understand the environmental impacts on the measurements. The techniques under investigation include Raman spectroscopy, time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and, most recently, Laser Ablation Molecular Isotopic Spectroscopy (LAMIS) that promises to be a useful tool for in-situ astrobiological studies and geological dating (geochronology). The hands-on skills and understanding of experimental design and analytical instruments provide a background for students to flexibly move to other industrial application areas.