MMAMA field testing - the plan

Tomorrow, Monday July 16, the real testing starts. This is more or less what will be going on:

At 7.00 the rover starts it's traverse at the site, collecting images and data in situ. There are only a few people allowed on the site who know the exact context of the site, the rest of us has to stay at the science operations room. Around 17.00 the rover is done and all the data will be dispersed to the science team members. 

After dinner, the science team starts, which can range anywhere between 2 - 6 hours. In this meeting we will discuss the data, form a first idea about the site we are studying, based on the rover information we have, and make a plan for Day 2.

The official test will last three days.

VAPoR is for the time being a bit an odd one out, since we are to big still to be mounted on a rover. So instead of doing in situ measurements, we will do all our analyses in the science ops room. Another difference is that, since VAPoR measurements take a bit of time, we will get our samples a day ahead. The few people who will be up at the site now the traverse we will follow, so they will pick out samples for us, that we can run during the day. That way we will have data of the same locations as all the rover mounted instruments and can participate realtime in the discussions.

MMAMA field testing day 2 - more troubleshooting

After a great night's sleep at 9,500 ft / ±3 km altitude, the jetlag (and the fact that I forgot to close the blinds) helped out fantastically to start the day bright and early at 5.45 AM. There is only capacity for a few of the MMAMA people to stay up the mountain and since I'm serving in the science team meetings that wil run in the evenings, I get to stay up at the Hale Pohaku lodges again, instead of having to drive up and down from sea level for an hour and a bit. This does have its perks - I get a bit better adjusted to the altitude - and it's consequences - I get to get up at 6.00 and start working around 7.00 AM and am still running samples at 21.00 (9.00 PM). 

the cabin

the view

Today was another day to troubleshoot the instrument and get stuff working and we clearly needed it. Both VAPoR and MeSH seem to have had some trouble with the journey here.

VAPoR:

* good news - the leak seems to be gone - we opened up and resealed the oven and now the pressure goes nicely down to somewhere in the 10-7 mbar range. low enough to operate the mass spectrometer

* bad news - the serial port of the laptop has decided to give up

* relatively good news - Magnus had a serial-to-usb converter that did work

* more bad news - the LabView software we use seems to be hard coded to the old serial port and does not want the recognize the new port.

* short intermezzo - we built a LabView program to run all the different parts of VAPoR and collect all data in one big file, so mass spec and temperature and pressure and oven power data.

* the solution - we forget about LabView for now and just as in the early days, we control the temperature straight from the controller and the mass spec using it's own software again. back to taking notes about the temperature and pressure every 5 mins in the labbook and then manually transferring them to the computer. the mass spec data will be analyzed using an excel work around. 

Technically, we should be up and running tomorrow at the first day of the official tests. I'm running a blank now to save us some time tomorrow, but we should be all good. 

MeSH

* some strange demon has decided to randomly spike up the current of the motor, still not figured out why, but it's not posing too much of a problem

* a few of the sensors that help putting the instrument back in the "home" position decided to call it quits, but also for that we found a work around.

Good end of the day, though, with two nicely ground blanks, one of which to be measured tomorrow morning.

Just in short again how VAPoR and MeSH work:

A sample is delivered to MeSH, which crushes and sieves the sample to 150 micron. The crushed sample is then transfered to a sample holder and placed inside the VAPoR oven in the carousel. The carousel is then rotated under the mass spectrometer, a vacuum tight seal is created and the system is pumped to vacuum. The sample is heated to 1000 °C at a rate of 20 °C/min and the gases that evolve are analyzed by the mass spectrometer.

Here a neat little video on how MeSH operates:

So all in all everything seems to be good to go for the real test! More about that in the next blog.

MMAMA & ISRU combined campaign - Mauna Kea Hawai'i - Day 1

And we're on the move again!

This year VAPoR, together with MeSH, participates in the combined MMAMA - ISRU field testing campaign, again at Mauna Kea Hawai'i. 

NASA's ISRU (In Situ Resource Utilization) campaign this year focuses around RESOLVE, and takes place in the same valley as the 2010 ILSO-ISRU campaign.

Besides this campaign, NASA has funded a number of instruments to participate in field tests under the MMAMA (Moon and Mars Analog Mission Activities) program. This is the program VAPoR participates in. 

The campaign consist of small rover (Juno), a Mössbauer (or rather the Mössbauer) spectrometer, a ground penetrating radar, a sample preparation instrument, MeSH, and  VAPoR. We will, however, go to a different site, a bit higher op the volcano, called Apollo Valley. This site is geologically more interesting than the other site and there serves our purpose better. 

First a short note on why we are doing this again and why here:

In general:

1. in order to fly a mission to another planet, you have to train train train, and make sure that you've simulated all scenarios that can potentially occur, so the only thing new in the actual mission is the cool stuff you discover, and not the instrument operation or people interaction

2. volcanos and deserts are more like the moon or Mars than any other place on Earth, because of their low amount of vegetation and water. 

This site

3. Apollo Valley is a geologically interesting site of which not every detail is known yet, so even though the aim is not to do cool new science, we may find some new things

4. the sites is very accessible for logistic purposes (if there's no proper road, you won't be able to haul out all the equipment you plan on testing)

The first two days for us are setup and test days and on day 3 the real fun starts. So, today we spent acclimatizing, unpacking our crates, putting our stuff together, and scratching our heads about to random things that all of a sudden refuse to work. One of the problems is most likely a leak.. so more testing tomorrow. The other is that the software does not want to talk to the temperature controller. Considering the fact that the idea behind VAPoR is to controlled raise the temperature and measure the released gases, this is an interesting situation.

The VAPoR/MeSH team this year consists of Charles Malespin and Magnus Hedlund from HoneyBee Robotics, who built MeSH. Field work will be a bit of an overstatement this year, since we are operating from the gym at the observers's lodges at Hale Pohaku, where we will analyze samples brought to us, instead of us going into the field.

Our little corner

Charles

MeSH

VAPoR

Magnus

Desert RATS - The End...

VAPoR is packed up and ready to be shipped back to Goddard. To wrap up this field test's blog, some final nice pictures. See you next time!

just cute

The Grand Canyon

Desert RATS

Desert flowers

Desert Skies

Waputki ruins

 Sedona

Lowell's telescope 

Desert RATS - Day 13 - Results

On the last day, finally some results.

The last sample of the 15 we analyzed was a red rock, most likely the Moenkopi sandstone, with lichens growing on the outside - the grayish layer in the picture.

Although the title of the plot is not correct (this was not a soil sample), the data are. The plot below shows a compilation of some of the masses we are interested in (please note which trace goes with which y-axis).

The large green peak between 400 and 550 °C is CO2 - the majority of this peak (>80%) is CO2 evolved from the carbonates in this sample (either calcite: CaCO3, or dolomite: (MgCa)(CO3)2). These minerals decompose at a relatively low temperature under vacuum.

The yellow and very wobbly brownish plots (27, 78) are representative fragments from decomposition of organic material. These compounds are most likely from the lichen decomposition.

The blue line is water that is part of hydrated minerals. Adsorbed water would evolve at temperatures around 100°C, hydrated water at 300-600°C, depending on the mineral.

These are the results from a first quick look, next step, explaining all the other traces we find.

Desert RATS - Day 12 - Sample preparation

After the cleanly collected samples from the crew reach us, we have to prepare it for analysis. The cartoon below shows how:

First we chip off a fragment with a vice. Technically the vice should be cleaned in between samples, but by brushing it we hope to get at least the mineral cross contamination down. 

The fragments are collected in aluminum foil, to prevent exposure to any organic containing surface. 

Then the sample is transfered to a mortar to be crushed into fine powder. Both the pestle and mortar were ashed (heated to 500°C for 3 hours) to remove organic contaminants, before they were brought out to the field. The reason to powder the sample is to increase the exposed surface, which makes it easier for volatiles to escape.

The Terra instrument (a portable XRF, brought into the field by Jack Farmer/ASU), a terrestrial version of the CheMin instrument of MSL, requires powder with a grain size of <150 micron (um, micrometer) and we try to analyze one sample with both VAPoR and the Terra. Therefore we sieve the sample to the <150 um fraction, keep half or it ourselves and give the other halve to Terra.

VAPoR can't handle large sample sizes, because the RGA (residual gas analyzer, the mass spec) breaks at pressures higher than 5e-4 mbar. The larger the sample the larger the amount of gases that evolves, so we weigh out the sample to about 10 mg.

This 10 mg sample is then loaded in a quartz tube, which is on one side plugged with quartz wool. Quartz withstands temperatures up to at least 1600 °C, and we reach a sample temperature of ~1300 °C, so we won't melt the tubes.

This sample is loaded into the oven. 

Check the video of day 10 to learn how VAPoR operates.

Desert RATS - Day 11 - Sample collection by Jake Bleacher

Jake Bleacher is doubling as crew and VAPoR team member. As part of the crew he is involved in all steps of the simulation, from collecting samples to processing them in the GeoLab to living in the DSH, simulating a planetary habitat. Here he describes his adventures during the sampling collection (also on the official NASA blog). 

Jake Bleacher:  One of the great advantages to sending humans to explore other Solar System bodies is the chance to document, collect, and analyze scientific samples. Here at Desert RATS we primarily focus on the collection of geologic samples, or rocks and soils. Although these samples can be studied in the Deep Space Habitat (DSH) Geolab, or back on Earth, it is extremely critical to document the context in which the samples are collected so that the science team can use those samples to piece together a geologic history for the area. The hammer, shovel, and tongs enable us to break off a piece of local rock or scoop up a sample of soil. However, prior to doing so we use cameras that are mounted on our backpacks to show the intended sample in its undisturbed location, preferably with the hammer or shovel in the picture to provide a sense of scale, or the size of the rocks.

Jake sampling (credit NASA/DRATS)

The SEV (credit NASA/DRATS

Crew member Jose Hurtado taking notes for the science team (credit NASA/DRATS) 

Once we pick up the rock or soil sample we describe its color, texture, size, and general makeup as well as any other important observations. This information helps the science backroom determine what type of sample it is. After collecting the sample we take a picture showing the sample along with its sample bag, with the number clearly visible. This enables us to keep track of what samples go in what bags. We also acquire an image showing the sample’s location once the sample has been collected to provide further context of the environment in which the sample was located. After an EVA is complete and we have returned to our Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV) we place all the samples on the aft deck (back end) of the rover and take one last photo. This helps the science team keep track of which samples were collected on which EVAs, because with so many samples being collected it just takes one computer error or malfunction to lose track of your samples. This picture provides another piece of data to help us keep track of that information. We weigh all of the samples in their storage locker and then place them into what we call the sample mailbox on the aft deck.

sample mailbox on the aft deck

This is our standard way of collecting geologic samples during Desert RATS. However, just like during the Apollo Missions, we also have what we call “special samples” that are collected in a slightly different way. This year we have two science instrument teams involved in the test. I am involved with one of these instruments, called Volatile Analysis by Pyrolysis of Regolith (VAPoR). This instrument has the potential to “sniff” out water or other volatiles that we might use to help survive on another planet. It can also help identify bio-signatures, or signs of past or present life. However, one problem with collecting our samples is that we ourselves create a bio-signature and are composed of water.  So our standard sample collection protocols can potentially contaminate a sample to the point that the instrument cannot identify minor traces of what it is looking for. As such, this year we have incorporated a new “special” sample collection protocol for VAPoR samples. Once a crewmember or the backroom identifies a possible VAPoR sample we are careful to not touch it with our gloves. We also never let the sample touch the bags. So we basically encase the sample in aluminum foil to isolate it from interactions with the gloves or bags. This is a first step for Desert RATS to incorporate new science instruments that are in development at different NASA Centers, and to begin thinking about the steps necessary to collect samples in a non-traditional way. 



Addition by Inge: The VAPoR team went out to collect a few samples of their own. This short movie shows Jim chipping of a rock and Inge collecting it in a clean way.