ChemCam
Status
October, 2008
The ChemCam
Engineering Model (EM) is operating in the rover test bed at JPL. It was
returned to LANL over the summer to repair an issue with the memory chips. All
operations are currently functioning in its tests at JPL.
The flight model of the Mast Unit was delivered
from
The body unit (BU) optical train has been
assembled and tested over temperatures, and end-to-end LIBS tests have been
done. The instrument meets its performance projections given at the critical
design review, which is very good news!
Final alignment and staking of the optical system is taking place the
first week of October.
The body unit electronics took some hits in
June. A spare Data Processing electronics board had to be built up and the
field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) had to be
reprogrammed to reduce power consumption. In addition, several weeks were spent
solving a problem with memory chips. These issues have now been overcome. Currently
the flight FPGAs are being installed and the boards
are nearly ready for close-out.
The rover-mounted calibration target has been
assembled. It contains four ceramic standards intended to mimic sedimentary
compositions on Mars, four glass standards intended for igneous rock
calibrations, one graphite sample to aid in carbon emission line identification,
and a titanium target for wavelength calibration.
The next couple of months will be busy with
final body unit assembly, vibration test of the body unit, thermal testing of
both units, and LIBS calibrations. Delivery to JPL is
planned for December.
Upon delivery to JPL, electromagnetic
interference tests and planetary protection bakeouts
will be undertaken. The Mast Unit will then be integrated with the rover mast. The
software commands will be validated. Mast pointing accuracies will be checked
and a camera model will be developed for the RMI. After this, ChemCam will be integrated into the rover itself.
LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
Operated by the University of
California for the National Nuclear
Security Administration,
of the