Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)

Video File as Goddard Prepares for MSL launch carrying The Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite.

This video profiles Jess Lewis, designer of SAM's Solid Sample Inlet Tube (SSIT). The SSIT is essentially a high-tech funnel that helps direct the Mars soil into the SAM suite for analysis.

This video profiles Dan Carrigan, the engineer primarily responsible for building SAM's QMS, or Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer. QMS's purpose is to break down the Mars atmosphere and vaporized soil into their components and help scientists identify what those components are.

This video profiles Synthia Tonn, a junior engineer responsible for SAM's ground support equipment as well as its 'plumbing,' or the series of tiny, winding gas lines that connect SAM's various instruments.

Teaser trailer for the SAM suite.

For complete transcript, click here.

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: B-roll of the SAM suite fully integrated in a Goddard Space Flight Center clean room. Includes wide shots and details.

HD footage codec: DVCPROHD 100

SD footage codec: DVCPRO

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: B-roll of the Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (QMS) being built by Dan Carrigan and integrated into the SAM suite. QMS will analyze and determine the components of the Martian atmosphere. It will also analyze volatiles released from soil samples that are heated by small ovens in the SAM suite.

HD footage codec: DVCPROHD 100

SD footage codec: DVCPRO

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: B-roll of the Tunable Laser Spectrometer. TLS is an instrument in the SAM suite that will perform a sensitive search for methane and measure oxygen and carbon isotope ratios in carbon dioxide as well as the carbon isotope in methane. Methane and carbon dioxide are critical to terrestrial life and planetary evolution.

HD footage codec: DVCPROHD 100

SD footage codec: DVCPRO

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: B-roll of SAM's microvalves being assembled at Goddard Space Flight Center. Microvalves work much like miniature faucets; by opening and closing them, gas moves through pipes within the SAM suite. These valves are designed to be so tight that not even helium can pass through them when closed.

HD footage codec: DVCPROHD 100

SD footage codec: DVCPRO

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: B-roll of SAM's Solid Sample Inlet Tube (SSIT) being inspected by Jesse Lewis at Goddard Space Flight Center. The SSIT is the 'front gate' for Mars soil samples to enter the SAM suite.

HD footage codec: DVCPROHD 100

SD footage codec: DVCPRO

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: B-roll of SAM's Sample Manipulation System (SMS) being integrated and tested at Goddard Space Flight Center. SMS receives soil samples from SAM's inlet tubes and delivers them for analysis by SAM instruments.

HD footage codec: DVCPROHD 100

SD footage codec: DVCPRO

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: B-roll of machinists creating parts for SAM at Goddard Space Flight Center. Many of SAM's parts are designed and built completely at the Greenbelt, MD center.

HD footage codec: DVCPROHD 100

SD footage codec: DVCPRO

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: B-roll of Goddard employees and team members from the University of Paris working on SAM's electronics systems. SAM is an international collaboration with team members from the United States, France, and Mexico.

HD footage codec: DVCPROHD 100

SD footage codec: DVCPRO

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: B-roll Heather Franz, research analyst, working on the SAM Development Model. The SAM Development Model is a larger-than-life mock-up of the systems and instruments within SAM, allowing the team to develop, test, and modify components within the suite prior to constructing the flight hardware.

HD footage codec: DVCPROHD 100

SD footage codec: DVCPRO

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: B-roll of the fully-integrated SAM suite being placed into the Mars Environment Chamber, where it will undergo testing in simulated space and Mars atmospheric environments.

HD footage codec: DVCPROHD 100

SD footage codec: DVCPRO

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: The SAM testbed, a complete, functioning duplicate of SAM, is instealled into the Mars chamber at Goddard Space Flight Center. There, the testbed will exist in a simulated Mars environment, where scientists and engineers can perform tests in the same environment as the flight hardware.

HD footage codec: Apple ProRes 422

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: The SAM Mars chamber is a box, about the size of a refrigerator, that can simulate the pressures, temperatures, and atmosphere of Mars! Inside, the SAM testbed will exist in a simulated Mars environment, where scientists and engineers can perform tests in the same environment as the flight hardware.

HD footage codec: Apple ProRes 422

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: Short interview clips with Paul Mahaffy, SAM Principal Investigator.

HD footage codec: Apple ProRes 422

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: Short interview clips with Pamela Conrad, SAM Deputy Principal Investigator.

HD footage codec: Apple ProRes 422

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: Short interview clips with Jennifer Eigenbrode, MSL Participating Scientist.

HD footage codec: Apple ProRes 422

Tucked inside the Curiosity rover is a miniature chemistry lab designed to unlock the secrets of Mars. Principal Investigator Paul Mahaffy, Deputy Principal Investigator Pamela Conrad, and MSL Participating Scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode discuss their work on SAM, the Sample Analysis at Mars, and its mission to the figure out the past and present chemistry of the Red Planet.

For complete transcript, click here.

BROADCAST-QUALITY FOOTAGE: This footage shows SAM's Sample Manipulation System (SMS) performing various functions in a laboratory environment.

HD footage codec: Apple ProRes 422