Electronic drive and acquisition system for mass spectrometry

The present invention discloses a mixed signal RF drive electronics board that offers small, low power, reliable, and customizable method for driving and generating mass spectra from a mass spectrometer, and for control of other functions such as electron ionizer, ion focusing, single-ion detection, multi-channel data accumulation and, if desired, front-end interfaces such as pumps, valves, heaters, and columns

Response of QIT-MS to Noble Gas Isotopic Ratios in a Simulated Venus Flyby

The primary objective of the present study is to investigate the science return of future Venus atmosphere probe mission concepts using the Quadrupole Ion Trap (QIT) Mass Spectrometer (MS) Instrument (QIT-MS-I). We demonstrate the use of Monte-Carlo simulations in determining the optimal ion trapping conditions and focus the analysis on retrieving isotope ratios of noble gases in the model sample of the Venus atmosphere. Sampling takes place at a constant velocity of ~10 km/s between 112−110 km altitude and involves the use of getter pumps to remove all chemically-active species, retaining inert noble gases. The enriched sample is leaked into passively pumped vacuum chamber where it is analyzed by the QIT-MS sensor (QIT-MS-S) for 40 minutes. The simulated mass spectrum, as recorded by the QIT-MS-S, is deconvoluted using random walk algorithm to reveal relative abundances of noble gas isotopes. The required precision and accuracy of the deconvolution method is benchmarked against the a priori known model composition of the atmospheric sample

SEIS: Insight’s Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure of Mars

By the end of 2018, 42 years after the landing of the two Viking seismometers on Mars, InSight will deploy onto Mars’ surface the SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure) instrument; a six-axes seismometer equipped with both a long-period three-axes Very Broad Band (VBB) instrument and a three-axes short-period (SP) instrument. These six sensors will cover a broad range of the seismic bandwidth, from 0.01 Hz to 50 Hz, with possible extension to longer periods. Data will be transmitted in the form of three continuous VBB components at 2 sample per second (sps), an estimation of the short period energy content from the SP at 1 sps and a continuous compound VBB/SP vertical axis at 10 sps. The continuous streams will be augmented by requested event data with sample rates from 20 to 100 sps. SEIS will improve upon the existing resolution of Viking’s Mars seismic monitoring by a factor of ∼2500 at 1 Hz and ∼200000 at 0.1 Hz. An additional major improvement is that, contrary to Viking, the seismometers will be deployed via a robotic arm directly onto Mars’ surface and will be protected against temperature and wind by highly efficient thermal and wind shielding. Based on existing knowledge of Mars, it is reasonable to infer a moment magnitude detection threshold of ∼3 at 40∘ epicentral distance and a potential to detect several tens of quakes and about five impacts per year. In this paper, we first describe the science goals of the experiment and the rationale used to define its requirements. We then provide a detailed description of the hardware, from the sensors to the deployment system and associated performance, including transfer functions of the seismic sensors and temperature sensors. We conclude by describing the experiment ground segment, including data processing services, outreach and education networks and provide a description of the format to be used for future data distribution