The MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration (MASPEX) is a

time-of-flight Time of flight (ToF) is the measurement of the time taken by an object, particle or wave (be it acoustic, electromagnetic, etc.) to travel a distance through a medium. This information can then be used to measure velocity or path length, or as a w ...

mass spectrometer Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a '' mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is us ...

capable of high-resolution and high-sensitivity that allows the determination of a wide variety of chemical compounds in complex mixtures.J. H. Waite Jr., ''et al.,'' (2 April 2024)
MASPEX-Europa: The Europa Clipper Neutral Gas Mass Spectrometer Investigation"
'' Space Science Reviews, Vol. 220'', No. 30. Retrieved 13 Jan 2025. This instrument will fly on board the planned ''

Europa Clipper Europa Clipper (previously known as Europa Multiple Flyby Mission) is a space probe developed by NASA to study Europa (moon), Europa, a Galilean moon of Jupiter. It was launched on October 14, 2024. The spacecraft used a gravity assist from Mar ...

'' orbiter to explore

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

's moon Europa. This

astrobiology Astrobiology (also xenology or exobiology) is a scientific field within the List of life sciences, life and environmental sciences that studies the abiogenesis, origins, Protocell, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the univ ...

mission will analyse the composition of Europa's surface while in orbit, and will directly assess its internal ocean

habitability Habitability is the adequacy of an environment for human living. Where housing is concerned, there are generally local ordinances which define habitability. If a residence complies with those laws, it is said to be habitable. In extreme environ ...

by flying through Europa's tenuous atmosphere. On 27 May 2016 it was announced that MASPEX was selected to fly on the mission. The instrument has also been proposed to fly on three

Discovery program The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office. The cost of each mission is capped at a lower level t ...

missions:

Enceladus Life Finder Enceladus Life Finder (ELF) is a proposed astrobiology mission concept for a NASA spacecraft intended to assess the habitability of the internal aquatic ocean of Enceladus, which is Saturn's sixth-largest moon of at least 274 total moons, and ...

(ELF), comet Hartley 2 (PRIME), and to the

main belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...

comet Read (Proteus). It also has applications for probes, landers, and sample return missions. The original Principal Investigator was Jack Waite, and the Technical Lead is Tim Brockwell, from the

Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and deve ...

. In 2020 NASA announced that Jim Burch of Southwest Research InstituteNASA
MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Europa (MASPEX)
Retrieved 13 Jan 2025. would become the Principal Investigator and that some instrument capabilities might be reduced due to technical and financial limitations.

Overview

MASPEX is a next generation spectrometer with significantly improved performance over existing instruments, that was developed over 10 years by the

. Development of the MASPEX was born out of the need to separate and analyze the unexpectedly rich volatile mixtures discovered by the ''Cassini'' INMS instrument at

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

and

Enceladus Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn and the 18th-largest in the Solar System. It is about in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. It is covered by clean, freshly deposited snow hundreds of meters thick, ...

. The instrument is a high-resolution, high-sensitivity

developed for planetary applications. Its high-resolution allows the unambiguous determination of volatile

isotopes Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), but ...

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

, water,

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...

, molecular nitrogen (N₂), carbon dioxide (), and small

organic compound Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-co ...

s (C2, C3, and C4) in complex mixtures.MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration (MASPEX).pptx The MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration (MASPEX)
(PowerPoint); Mark Libardoni, et al. 10th International Planetary Probe Workshop; San Jose, CA. June 2013. MASPEX can also measure compounds in trace amounts ( ppt), including the

noble gas The noble gases (historically the inert gases, sometimes referred to as aerogens) are the members of Group (periodic table), group 18 of the periodic table: helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), radon (Rn) and, in some ...

argon Argon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ar and atomic number 18. It is in group 18 of the periodic table and is a noble gas. Argon is the third most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere, at 0.934% (9340 ppmv). It is more than twice as abu ...

krypton Krypton (from 'the hidden one') is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a colorless, odorless noble gas that occurs in trace element, trace amounts in the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere and is of ...

xenon Xenon is a chemical element; it has symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

, and their

isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...

s. The MASPEX can operate in a heavy radiation environment, and can be baked to 300 °C for

planetary protection Planetary protection is a guiding principle in the design of an interplanetary mission, aiming to prevent biological contamination of both the target celestial body and the Earth in the case of sample-return missions. Planetary protection refle ...

against forward biological contamination in case the probe impacts any potentially habitable moon of Jupiter. Other areas of enhanced performance over existing instruments include:

References

{{Satellite and spacecraft instruments Spacecraft instruments Europa (moon) Europa Clipper

Overview

See also

References