This artist's conception of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory portrays use of
the rover's ChemCam instrument to identify the chemical composition of a
rock sample on the surface of Mars.
ChemCam is innovative for planetary exploration in using a technique
referred to as laser breakdown spectroscopy to determine the chemical
composition of samples from distances of up to about 8 meters (25 feet)
away. ChemCam is led by a team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and
the Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements in Toulouse, France.
Mars Science Laboratory, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or
present ability to sustain microbial life, is in development at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory for a launch opportunity in 2009. The mission is
managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, Calif., for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
