Planets and Moons ID: 11045

The Mars Chamber

Released on July 18, 2012

The Mars chamber is a box—about the size of a refrigerator—that re-creates the temperatures, pressures, and atmosphere of the Martian surface, essentially creating a Mars environment on Earth!

Scientists and engineers use this chamber to test experiments on the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite—a fully functioning chemistry lab about the Curiosity Mars rover.

By re-creating Mars on Earth and using an exact duplicate of SAM, scientists can "pre-run" experiments on SAM to make sure everything will work properly on the Mars rover. Learn more about the Mars chamber by watching this video!

Credits

Chris Smith (HTSI): Lead Animator
Chris Smith (HTSI): Video Editor
Chris Johnson (Bastion): Interviewee
Chris Smith (HTSI): Producer
Paul Mahaffy (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Chris Smith (HTSI): Videographer
Rob Andreoli (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Videographer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center