Planets and Moons ID: 10206

Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)

Released on October 16, 2008

Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) is a suite of instruments developed for use on the Mars Science Laboratory. By looking for evidence of water, carbon, and other important building blocks of life in the Mars soil and atmosphere, this suite will help answer one of humankind's biggest questions about the planet: did it ever support life? SAM was designed and built in an international collaboration between Goddard Space Flight Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Paris, and Honeybee Robotics. This video series highlights the mission, its objectives, and some of Goddard's contributors to the project.

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 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: 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

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.

Credits

Chris Smith (UMBC): Video Editor
Dan Gallagher (USRA): Video Editor
Michael Randazzo (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Video Editor
Paul Mahaffy (NASA/GSFC): Interviewee
Jennifer Eigenbrode (NASA/GSFC): Interviewee
Pamela Conrad (NASA/GSFC): Interviewee
Chris Smith (UMBC): Producer
Dan Gallagher (USRA): Producer
Paul Mahaffy (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Rob Andreoli (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.): Videographer

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

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Data Used:

SAM

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This item is part of these series:
Goddard Shorts
Narrated Movies

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Mars
SVS >> Edited Feature
SVS >> Engineers
DLESE >> Narrated
NASA Science >> Planets and Moons

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