Left MastCam GIF of three frames shows the closed cover of SAM. The animation shows the cover before the drop, and then two portions of powdered rock are dropped onto the cover. This is performed to measure ensure they can deliver the correct amount of sample to SAM when the cover is opened.
Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite
Gas Chromatograph: Separates gases to aid in identifying them
Mass Spectrometer: Detecting key elements necessary for life (nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur, oxygen and carbon)
Tunable Laser Spectrometer: Detecting water vapor and understanding the history of Mars atmosphere or determining whether methane, if found, is produced by life or geologic processes
Sample Manipulation System: Wheel of 74 small cups for samples (9 cups contain calibration samples; 9 filled with chemical solvents for lower-temperature wet chemistry experiments, and 59 quartz cups that are small ovens for heating the powdered samples to extract gases)
Sensitivity: Detects less than one part-per-billion of an organic compound
Ovens: Heat most rock samples to about 1,000 degrees Celsius (about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit) to extract gases for analysis
