Shoshana Mayden

email address: smayden@ag.arizona.edu

The Arizona Daily Star
Octoer 16, 1992

UA's device on Mars craft working well

UA researchers have confirmed that their $20 million Mars Observer instrument is working properly as the spacecraft journeys toward the red planet.

The first data from the gamma-ray spectrometer arrived at the University of Arizona Monday morning, said planetary scientist William V. Boynton. Five researchers have been analyzing the data to assess the instrument's performance.

"Everything seems to be working just beautifully," said Boynton, who heads the Mars Observer's gamma-ray spectrometer science team.

The spectrometer is one of seven instruments aboard the unmanned spacecraft, which was launched on a Titan rocket Sept. 25. After an 11-month cruise to Mars, the spacecraft will begin a two-year mapping mission.

The UA instrument will measure gamma rays generated by the radioactive decay of elements on the Martian surface. This will enable scientists to map the quantity of at least 16 different elements on the planet.

It only takes about one minute for information from the instrument to reach Tucson, Boynton said. However, he has encountered more difficulty in sending commands back to the spectrometer.

All commands must be approved by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which manages the Mars Observer project, he said.

The gamma-ray spectrometer was built in Denver by Martin Marietta to specifications developed by Boynton's Tucson-based team.

Boynton was concerned about the spectrometer's performance, because some electronic "noise" was detected during pre-launch tests. But no problems have been observed in space, he said.

Two other instruments aboard the Mars Observer have begun operation. The magnetometer was turned on earlier in the week, and the camera was scheduled to be tested last night.