NASA Goddard Geochemistry Group Away Team Practices Tricorder Use On Volcanic Deposits
Location: Kilbourne Hole, Potrillo Volcanic Field, New Mexico
Landsat image of Potrillo Volcanic Field — a volcanic field in northern Mexico and southern New Mexico. False Color, Bands R7, G4, B2 – Wikipedia
The Geochemistry group, led by Cherie Achilles of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, has the most team members and the most science gadgets of any science crew here in the field this week. They’re working together to coordinate several different kinds of data. Here’s the run-down:
The Hyperspectral Imager (HSI) team scans sections of the crater wall using infrared light. Their HSI device tells us what the rocks in its view are made of–which helps us decide which ones we might want to investigate further.
Christine Knudson & Amy McAdam follow up with three kinds of handheld spectrometers. Each one sends a pulse of energy into the rock face, analyzes the signal that comes back, and gives a specialized readout of the zapped object’s chemistry or mineralogy.
Jared Ralleta and Alice Baldridge take spot measurements in visible and near-infrared light. Their data, the other handheld instrument readouts, and the HSI scans complement one another, giving us a more complete understanding of the field site.
Finally, the team collects samples (carefully and with permission). We’ll bring these back to the lab at NASA Goddard and study them with machines that are too big to haul out to the fieldwork site, but can help us reveal even more of this volcano’s science story.
Christine Knudson and Amy McAdam at work in Kilbourne Hole, Potrillo Volcanic Field. A SciAps XRF Analyzer is in use.
The RISE2 Hyperspectral Imager Team at work in Kilbourne Hole, Potrillo Volcanic Field.
Jared Ralleta and Alice Baldridge at work in Kilbourne Hole, Potrillo Volcanic Field. Jared Ralleta and Alice Baldridge at work in Kilbourne Hole, Potrillo Volcanic Field. — NASA Note: Jared is using a Malvern Panalytical ASD FieldSpec 4 Hi-Res: High Resolution Spectroradiometer with a contact probe.
Astrogeology, Astrobiology,
