Atomic Force Microscopy on Mars
NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, which was launched from Earth in August 2007 and landed on Mars in May 2008, has an Atomic Force Microscope on board. The Lander’s “Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer” (MECA) module contains several scientific tools including an AFM which is being used to analyze soil and ice samples scooped up from the ground. Called the “First Atomic force microscope on Mars” (FAMARS), the instrument is working and has sent back its first images this past summer.
FAMARS was built with the financial support of Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and the Wolfermann-Nägeli-Foundation in Switzerland (consortium members : Institute of Microtechnology at U. Neuchatel, Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) Neuchatel, Nanosurf AG, The Departement Physik der Universität Basel, Switzerland) and involved collaboration with Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, USA and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute, Switzerland).
Above is a photo of the leg of the Lander just after landing on Mars.
Above is the sample and the AFM image. From the press release: “The optical image on the upper left is from NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander’s Optical Microscope after a sample informally called “Sorceress” was delivered to its silicon substrate on the 38th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (July 2, 2008).
“A 3D representation of the same sample is on the right, as obtained by Phoenix’s Atomic Force Microscope. This is 100 times greater magnification than the view from the Optical Microscope, and the most highly magnified image ever seen from another planet. The image shows four round pits, only 5 microns in depth, that were previously micromachined into the silicon substrate, which is represented by the background plane shown in red. This image has been processed to reflect the levelness of the substrate.
“A Martian particle — only one micrometer, or one millionth of a meter, across — is held in the upper left pit. The rounded particle — shown at the highest magnification ever seen from another world — is a particle of the dust that cloaks Mars. Such dust particles color the Martian sky pink, feed storms that regularly envelop the planet and produce Mars’ distinctive red soil. The particle was part of a sample informally called “Sorceress” delivered to the AFM on the 38th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (July 2, 2008). The AFM is part of Phoenix’s microscopic station called MECA, or the Miscroscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer.
“The AFM was developed by a Swiss-led consortium, with Imperial College London producing the silicon substrate that holds sampled particles.
“The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.”
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/University of Neuchatel/Imperial College London
Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/images3d.php
This is pretty exciting. Dont let anyone tell us that AFM is not robust!!