IU contributes parts to 2009 Mars rover

A quarter of the instruments to be on NASA's 2009 Mars expedition have IU geologists behind them.\nThe Mars Science Laboratory mission, part of NASA's Mars Exploration program, is scheduled to send a rover to Mars in 2009. It will arrive in 2010, and the handiwork of geologists David Bish and Juergen Schieber will be included on board.\nBish and Schieber are working on devices that will provide scientists with a microscopic view of the planet, as well as identify what composes Mars' surface. The rover, set up as a mobile laboratory about the size of a Volkswagen Bug, will feature Bish and Schieber's work as two of the eight instruments on board.\nBish is working on an instrument named CheMin, signifying a combination of chemistry and mineralogy.\n"The purpose of the device, for the first time, is to give us unambiguous information about the minerals that are on the surface of Mars," Bish said.\nBish is working with colleagues from Los Alamos National Laboratory, NASA's Ames Research Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Johnson Space Center. Schieber is working with Malin Space Science Systems. \nCheMin is an X-ray diffraction/X-ray fluorescence instrument that will reveal the unique structure of minerals on the planet's surface, said Abhijit Basu, the chairman of the geology department.\nSchieber's project involves creating a microscopic imager that is equipped to provide very high resolution images of rocks, soil and grains on the Martian surface.\n"He is designing a microscope to be on board that will tell us of the very small things that we see on Mars," Basu said.\nThe instruments for the MSL mission are being built to achieve a safe landing on the red planet, which can be challenging. The landing method would enable the rover to land in an area 20 to 40 kilometers (12 to 24 miles) long -- about the size of a small crater or wide canyon and three to five times smaller than previous landing zones on Mars, according to NASA's Web site. \n"We know from experience that it is very difficult to land, so it is necessary to develop light weight, low power and reliable instruments," Bish said.\nBish and Schieber's instruments attempt to improve the research abilities and reach of scientists.\n"CheMin, X-ray diffraction, has never been flown before," said Frank Palluconi, NASA project scientist for MSL. "X-ray diffraction is the gold standard for doing mineralogy."\nThe microscopic imager is designed to allow scientists to study the surface of Mars in more detail.\n"As of now, we can see at a resolution of about slightly less than one millimeter at best under ideal conditions," Schieber said. "With the microscopic imager, the resolution would be ten-thousandth of a millimeter."\nPalluconi described the mission as transitional compared to other Mars missions.\n"Much previous work has been about weather conditions, geology and geophysics," Palluconi said. "This mission is more focused on aspects of geochemistry and biology." \nThe MSL mission is an international effort with contributions made from other countries.\nRussia, Spain, Canada and Germany are also involved in creating instruments for the MSL mission, according to NASA's Web site.\nBish along with other scientists have a positive outlook about the mission.\n"I am very happy about the inclusion of our instruments on MSL," Bish said. "If everything goes according to plan we should learn a lot."\n-- Contact staff writer Daria \nKamalipour at dkamalip@indiana.edu.