Instrument Information
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| IDENTIFIER |
urn:nasa:pds:context:instrument:tega.phx::1.1
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| NAME |
THERMAL EVOLVED GAS ANALYZER
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| TYPE |
SPECTROMETER
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| DESCRIPTION |
The Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) on the Mars Phoenix Lander is composed of two separate components which are closely coupled: a Scanning Calorimeter (SC) and a mass spectrometer as an Evolved Gas Analyzer (EGA). TEGA has the capability of performing scanning calorimetry on eight small soil samples selected in the vicinity of the lander. The samples will be heated in ovens to temperatures up to 1000C, and the volatile compounds (e.g.water and carbon dioxide), which are released during the heating, will be analyzed in the EGA. The power required by the sample oven is continuously monitored during the heating, allowing analysis of both endothermic and exothermic phase transitions, which can be used to identify the phases present. By correlating the gas release with the calorimetry, the abundance and composition of the volatile compounds associated with the different phases can be determined. The EGA mass spectrometer is sensitive to detection levels down to 10 parts per billion, a level that may detect minute quantities of organic molecules potentially existing in the ice and soil.
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| MODEL IDENTIFIER |
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| NAIF INSTRUMENT IDENTIFIER |
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| SERIAL NUMBER |
not applicable
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| REFERENCES |
Boynton, W. V., H. Enos, C. Fellows, D. K. Hamara, K. Harshman, M. S. Williams, M. R. Fitzgibbon, M. Finch, G. Droege, J. Hoffman, D. W. Ming, and P. Niles, The Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer on the Phoenix Mars Lander, J. Geophys. Res., in prep.
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