Instrument Suites

“Mordor” Ultra-high Vacuum System

"Mordor" Instrument Suite Details
Named after Charon’s Mordor Macula terrain

  • Cryopumped 3-tier Chamber
  • 4K Janis compressed He cryostat mounted on a differentially-pumped rotational + XYZ stages
  • 6 MHz Quartz Crystal Microbalance
  • Collimated Micro-capillary array gas dosers
  • McPherson 234-302 far-ultraviolet monochromator coupled to an Opthos Microwave Discharge Lamp and a 5901 Magnum Spiraltron Detector
  • Thermo-Nicolet is50 FTIR with various detector options [MCT-A, InGaAS, DTLaGS]
  • Ocean Optics Dual Tungsten-Halogen Source fiber-coupled to a Maya Pro CCD Backlit Si Detector
  • Spectral Range: 0.1 -16 μm
  • Extrel 300 amu Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer with an 90º off-axis energy filter
  • Extorr 200 amu Residual Gas Analyzer
  • 10 keV Kimball Physics Electron Gun with built-in Faraday Cup
  • 5 keV Nonsequitur Ion Gun with Electromagnetic Wien Filter

Research Threads

  • Charon’s Spectacular Red Polar Albedo
  • Europa’s Dark Ultraviolet Albedo
  • Funded by New Frontier Data Analysis Program

“Thrace” Ultra-high Vacuum System

Research Thread

  • Europa’s Brines

Gas Capture System

Research Threads

  • Gas Capture Device to Improve Sensitivity and Selectivity of Mass Spectrometers
  • Funded by SwRI’s Internal Research & Development

“ROSE” Regolith Optical Sorption Experiments
Ultrahigh Vacuum System

Research Threads

  • Effects of Space Weathering on Volatile Sorption Potential of Apollo soils
  • Funded by SSW

SwURC – Southwest Ultraviolet Reflectance Chamber

Southwest Ultraviolet Reflectance Chamber (SwURC) – Instrument Suite Details
  • Maglev Turbo-pumped Chamber
  • McPherson 234-302 far-ultraviolet monochromator coupled to a 30 W Deuterium Lamp
  • 4K ‘vibration-free’ Janis closed-cycle Helium cryostat mounted on a linear translator
  • 5901 Magnum Spiraltron Detector mounted on a Goniometer
  • Collimated Micro-capillary array gas doser to infuse lunar soils and simulants with volatiles
  • Absolute bi-directional reflectance measurements capability over 115- 200 nm range

Research Threads

  • Far-ultraviolet spectro-photometry of Apollo-era soils and lunar simulants
  • Volatile-infused Apollo soils
  • Funded by Lunar Data Analysis Program and LRO-LAMP