Stand-off Planetary Surface Analysis Using Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and Laser-induced Plasma Ion Mass

Introduction. Characterization of useable planetary materials will require high sampling throughput. Although remote observations from orbiting spacecraft provide spatially wide coverage, they do not, by themselves, provide sufficient information for materials utilization purposes. On the other hand, active rover-based in-situ analyses can provide detailed geological information but can be very time-consuming and limited in scope, as was recently demonstrated by the Mars Pathfinder Mission. The optimum configuration for detailed analysis with wide spatial coverage may be a standoff technique.