| |
 |
| Paper: |
Searching for Traces of Martian Life Using Holography |
| Volume: |
213, Bioastronomy '99: A New Era in Bioastronomy |
| Page: |
365 |
| Authors: |
Ksanfomality, Leonid; Kompanets, Igor |
| Abstract: |
A sample of the Martian regolith to be delivered in future missions to Mars may provide an important information on traces of the extinct life when studied in the laboratory. Of course, there will be only few samples (by technical reasons) and their structure will inevitably be distorted by the extracting mechanisms. There is an another possibility, looking for a morphology sign affected by life, using a special TV camera, too. However it is very difficult to return an information of this kind of the TV, mainly due to the enormous amount of the information to be returned. The proposal made in this paper is to use a holography technics collecting many shots of undistorted objects on the surface of Mars using a special photosensitive film, and to return the film together with a soil sample. The mass of the film roll is neglectable when compared with a package of a soil sample. The holograph experiment results are a lot more informative then the stereo (two points of view), having the number points of view = object solid angle / solid angle resolution. The object may be examined from many sides. A resolution of such a film may be up to 5000 lines/mm, that is much, much higher than any TV image. The instrument proposed for the project is based on the most advanced new investigations in the holography, that permits to minimize (4 to 6 fold) the mass, sizes an power assumption of the camera. The goal of the project is to investigate micro morphology of the Martian surface features (stones, sand, dust). The Camera Specification (preliminary) Mass & Less than 4 kg Sizes (mm) & 300 times 100 times 150 Power assumption & averaged < 1W, pulse up to 100W. Lazer & YAG (Nd), 2nd harmonic Wavelength & 530 nm Structure & Fiber optics Photo film & High resolution (up to 5000 mm^{-1}) Object maximum size (mm)& 100 Frame size (mm) & 100 times 250 Number of shots & 12-20 In some sense all things, now widely used in space research, were risky innovations in the past. A holograph in planetary science is certainly an innovation. The major advantage of holography is a possibility to look at the object in 3D, at different look directions and with very good resolution. |
|
|
|
|
|
