Russian Instrument on the Mars Rover Will Start Working This Week
Izvestia - 6 August 2012
by Константин Пукемов
translated by Phil
Click here for the original article in Russian
How will the neutron scanner DAN [Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons] search for water on Mars? Izvestia was told all about it by one of its developers, Igor Mitrofanov, from the laboratory at the Institute of Space Research.
Izvestia- Did the Americans buy the instrument? Does it belong to them? Or is it still our device?
I.M.- There are 9 units installed on board and one of them is our unit, the DAN. Being Russian means that it was made with money from the Russian Space Agency and placed on board the Mars Rover through an agreement with NASA and the Russian Space Agency.
Izvestia- What is the device and how does it work?
I.M.- The device includes a neutron generator that we've named "Perfume", created by our colleagues at the Institute of Automation. The neutron generator irradiates the surface of Mars with neutron pulses while another group of sensors measure the properties of the reflected neutrons to determine surface water content up to 1 meter deep. This will be done over the course of the mission.
Izvestia- Could you consider our device one of the principle instruments of the mission? How important is it to find water?
I.M.- All of the instruments are very balanced and all have unique challenges. We don't yet know if there is life or understand what form it could be. It could turn out that finding water has the biggest priority or maybe not. It's important that the landing is in Gale Crater since that area was a former sea. The entire surface are deposits of minerals that have accumulated. What will be the most interesting? I can't say, but we will for sure try not to miss any interesting areas looking for water.
Izvestia- When will the unit start transmitting the soil characteristics?
I.M.- Recently the rover transmitted the first picture and now the phase of thoroughly testing all scientific equipment and systems begins. After a few weeks checking and if everything is fine, I think after 2 weeks or so, the Mars Rover can begin moving.
The device is starting to operate this week and will continue next week. This data is already scientific. This week DAN is working in passive mode, measuring neutrons that occur naturally on the surface of Mars. But next week I'm going to NASA to turn on the neutron generator and we'll see how the instrument works at full power. Again, the first data we receive will be scientific but the most interesting data will come when the rover moves, changing the neutron signal from point to point.
Izvestia- Will you personally push a button to turn the unit on?
I.M.- Of course I won't have a button but we will say to mission control that we are planning to turn on the device and let them know which commands need to be submitted. The commands are similar to an SMS message. The device reads them and starts doing the operations.
Izvestia- How long will the unit operate?
I.M.- Unfortunately, the [neutron] generator has a limited lifespan. It is guaranteed to work for 3 years. Since it was first assembled a year and a half has already passed so we have about the same time remaining. As for the detectors and electronics, we hope that they will work as long as the rover will. Without the [neutron] generator we can still do a rough estimate of the water. But with the [neutron] generator we can determine its depth. Its like digging a well in the country. We know the water is there but not how much digging we need to do. That's why we need the [neutron] generator.
Izvestia- How much water do you think you will find and what condition will it be in?
I.M.- In the landing area, near the equator, water may be present in a chemically bound form, like in a clay. There could be about 10% of this kind of water. That is more than enough. The device will tell us up to 1 meter depth where this water is concentrated.
Izvestia- How much did the development of these instruments cost?
I.M.- We started work in 2005 and since that time have spent about 100 million Rubles [3.1 mil dollars].
Click here for the original article in Russian
Photo: REUTERS/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout
How will the neutron scanner DAN [Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons] search for water on Mars? Izvestia was told all about it by one of its developers, Igor Mitrofanov, from the laboratory at the Institute of Space Research.
Izvestia- Did the Americans buy the instrument? Does it belong to them? Or is it still our device?
I.M.- There are 9 units installed on board and one of them is our unit, the DAN. Being Russian means that it was made with money from the Russian Space Agency and placed on board the Mars Rover through an agreement with NASA and the Russian Space Agency.
Izvestia- What is the device and how does it work?
I.M.- The device includes a neutron generator that we've named "Perfume", created by our colleagues at the Institute of Automation. The neutron generator irradiates the surface of Mars with neutron pulses while another group of sensors measure the properties of the reflected neutrons to determine surface water content up to 1 meter deep. This will be done over the course of the mission.
Izvestia- Could you consider our device one of the principle instruments of the mission? How important is it to find water?
I.M.- All of the instruments are very balanced and all have unique challenges. We don't yet know if there is life or understand what form it could be. It could turn out that finding water has the biggest priority or maybe not. It's important that the landing is in Gale Crater since that area was a former sea. The entire surface are deposits of minerals that have accumulated. What will be the most interesting? I can't say, but we will for sure try not to miss any interesting areas looking for water.
Izvestia- When will the unit start transmitting the soil characteristics?
I.M.- Recently the rover transmitted the first picture and now the phase of thoroughly testing all scientific equipment and systems begins. After a few weeks checking and if everything is fine, I think after 2 weeks or so, the Mars Rover can begin moving.
The device is starting to operate this week and will continue next week. This data is already scientific. This week DAN is working in passive mode, measuring neutrons that occur naturally on the surface of Mars. But next week I'm going to NASA to turn on the neutron generator and we'll see how the instrument works at full power. Again, the first data we receive will be scientific but the most interesting data will come when the rover moves, changing the neutron signal from point to point.
Izvestia- Will you personally push a button to turn the unit on?
I.M.- Of course I won't have a button but we will say to mission control that we are planning to turn on the device and let them know which commands need to be submitted. The commands are similar to an SMS message. The device reads them and starts doing the operations.
Izvestia- How long will the unit operate?
I.M.- Unfortunately, the [neutron] generator has a limited lifespan. It is guaranteed to work for 3 years. Since it was first assembled a year and a half has already passed so we have about the same time remaining. As for the detectors and electronics, we hope that they will work as long as the rover will. Without the [neutron] generator we can still do a rough estimate of the water. But with the [neutron] generator we can determine its depth. Its like digging a well in the country. We know the water is there but not how much digging we need to do. That's why we need the [neutron] generator.
Izvestia- How much water do you think you will find and what condition will it be in?
I.M.- In the landing area, near the equator, water may be present in a chemically bound form, like in a clay. There could be about 10% of this kind of water. That is more than enough. The device will tell us up to 1 meter depth where this water is concentrated.
Izvestia- How much did the development of these instruments cost?
I.M.- We started work in 2005 and since that time have spent about 100 million Rubles [3.1 mil dollars].
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