The ADRON-RM Instrument Onboard the ExoMars Rover

I G Mitrofanov; M L Litvak; S Y Nikiforov; I Jun; Y I Bobrovnitsky; D V Golovin; A S Grebennikov; F S Fedosov; A S Kozyrev; D I Lisov; A V Malakhov; M I Mokrousov; A B Sanin; V N Shvetsov; G N Timoshenko; T M Tomilina; V I Tret'yakov; A A Vostrukhin

doi:10.1089/ast.2016.1566

The ADRON-RM Instrument Onboard the ExoMars Rover

Astrobiology. 2017 Jun/Jul;17(6-7):585-594. doi: 10.1089/ast.2016.1566.

Authors

I G Mitrofanov¹, M L Litvak¹, S Y Nikiforov¹, I Jun², Y I Bobrovnitsky³, D V Golovin¹, A S Grebennikov³, F S Fedosov¹, A S Kozyrev¹, D I Lisov¹, A V Malakhov¹, M I Mokrousov¹, A B Sanin¹, V N Shvetsov⁴, G N Timoshenko⁴, T M Tomilina³, V I Tret'yakov¹, A A Vostrukhin¹

Affiliations

¹ 1 Institute for Space Research , Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia .
² 2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California.
³ 3 A.A. Blagonravov Institute of Mechanical Engineering , Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia .
⁴ 4 Joint Institute of Nuclear Research , Dubna, Russia .

PMID: 28731818
DOI: 10.1089/ast.2016.1566

Abstract

This overview presents the physical principles, design, measurement capabilities, and summary of planned operations of the autonomous detector of radiation of neutrons onboard rover at Mars (ADRON-RM) on the surface of Mars. ADRON-RM is a Russian project selected for the joint European Space Agency-Roscosmos ExoMars 2020 landing mission. A compact passive neutron spectrometer, ADRON-RM, was designed to study the abundance and distribution of water and neutron absorption elements (such as Cl, Fe, and others) in the martian subsurface along the path of the ExoMars rover. Key Words: Mars exploration-Surface-Neutron Spectroscopy-Water. Astrobiology 17, 585-594.