Manage updates with the Download AppLaser-Induced Remote Sensing for Chemistry and Micro-Imaging instrument
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The ChemCam will fire a laser from the rover toward rock and soil targets up to 9 meters away, vaporizing materials from a 1 millimeter area and analyzing the atomic composition of the targets' surfaces. The vaporized material, a plasma of hot gas made of free-floating ions and electrons, will be analyzed by the onboard spectrograph.
Read the related story: "The Mars science gear on Curiosity"
August 20, 2010 4:00 AM PDT
Photo by: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/J.-L. Lacour/CEA
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