I didn't feel comfortable saying fart in the title, but in the spirit of Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, I really wanted to. The fact is, though that NASA scientists are very interested in the passing of gas, between the surface of Mars and the atmosphere, specifically the same methane gas mainly comprising the aforesaid flatulence as experienced by humans. The investigation and the instruments used, known as the Sample Analysis at Mars apparatus, or SAM are explained in detail in this NASA video.
Here are some highlights from the narration (all transcription errors mine) and I put a complete transcript out in the tall grass.
With our QMS (Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer) we are able to detect the most dominant gas in the Martian atmosphere, carbon dioxide. We've not only measured its abundance and its ratio to other gasses in the Martian atmosphere, but we've also measured its isotopic character.
SNIP
Now, the Tunable Laser Spectrometer has a special role for SAM in that it can very sensitively detect the organic molecule, methane, which has been observed from the Earth telescopically, and also by the Mars Express Orbiter, at very very low limits in the Martian atmosphere. We're trying to discover whether or not we can see this molecule from the Martian surface and if it has any variation from season to season.
The quality, abundance, breadth and accuracy of the measurements possible using the tools of the Mars Science Laboratory are unprecedented in planetary exploration to date.
For all of my Mars diaries and all things Mars on Daily Kos go to Kossacks on Mars.
I'm Pam Conrad, Depuby Principal Investigator of the SAM instrument suite on Mars Science Laboratory, and this is your Curiosity Rover Update. +
While our robotic explorer has been busy characterizing the surface of Mars, The SAM team has also been busy, but we've been looking at something invisible, the Martian atmosphere.
SAM, or Sample Analysis at Mars, is not one instrument but three, all of which are designed to work together to chemically characterize Mars. SAM measures chemical elements in molecules in a mass or size range of between two and five hundred thirty-five mass units and we do this by looking at gasses. We can bake solid samples until they give up their volatile components or their gasses, or we can directly inhale the Martian atmosphere through our inlet ports. With our QMS (Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer) we are able to detect the most dominant gas in the Martian atmosphere, carbon dioxide. We've not only measured its abundance and its ratio to other gasses in the Martian atmosphere, but we've also measured its isotopic character.
The other instruments are the tunable laser spectrometer and the gas chromatograph, the latter being mostly used to look for organic molecules in solids. Now, the Tunable Laser Spectrometer has a special role for SAM in that it can very sensitively detect the organic molecule, methane, which has been observed from the Earth telescopically, and also by the Mars Express Orbiter, at very very low limits in the Martian atmosphere. We're trying to discover whether or not we can see this molecule from the Martian surface and if it has any variation from season to season.
In the coming months, where ever Curiosity goes, SAM will continue to sniff the Martian atmosphere periodically looking for changes on a seasonal, maybe even diurnal basis, and that will tell us something about the nature of the exchange between the surface and the atmosphere.
This has been your Curiosity Rover Update. Check back for more.