Lecturer: Niklas Anthony (LTU) Date: 2019-06-13 10:00 Place: Aula
Remote Asteroid Sub-surface Composition Analysis via Laser-ablation and Spectrometry (RASCALS)
Our aim is to study how a laser and a spectrometer can be used to detect
sub-surface resources on asteroids such as water and metals. Many actors in the
new space industry are interested in the extraction of water from asteroids, as
it can be turned into rocket fuel or used as shielding. Scientists, too, are
interested if asteroids brought water to Earth. The only way to get
high-resolution, sub-surface composition data is to send a spacecraft to an
asteroid. This research suggests using an orbiting laser to ablate surface and
sub-surface material in order to determine its composition. This can be done a
number of ways, notably by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), which is
currently carried out on Mars by the Curiosity Rover. However, the LIBS process
would most likely destroy any water molecules, so a unique application of laser
energy and spectral analysis needs to be developed to address this challenge.
Created 2018-11-09 11:05:26 by Mats Holmström Last changed 2019-06-11 16:05:10 by Uwe Raffalski
