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  • Sorry, what?!

    From RichA@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jun 15 22:36:00 2023
    Read this passage. It's from an article on "phys.org."

    "Planetary scientists have already gathered and studied ice samples in depth from Saturn and Jupiter's moons Enceladus and Europa with microfluidic devices."

    So, when did this happen?

    https://phys.org/news/2023-06-microfluidics-space-extraterrestrial-life-signatures.html

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Martin Brown@21:1/5 to RichA on Fri Jun 16 13:15:36 2023
    On 16/06/2023 06:36, RichA wrote:
    Read this passage. It's from an article on "phys.org."

    "Planetary scientists have already gathered and studied ice samples in depth from Saturn and Jupiter's moons Enceladus and Europa with microfluidic devices."

    So, when did this happen?

    https://phys.org/news/2023-06-microfluidics-space-extraterrestrial-life-signatures.html

    The SDA or Surface Dust Analyser that flew on the probe past those moons
    was equipped with a micro miniature TOF mass spec. They analysed ice
    particles caught on the sensor surface for composition.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Dust_Analyser

    Or in much more detail:

    https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2014/EPSC2014-229.pdf

    It is a very cunning design and out in space they already have a vacuum!
    It doesn't produce coffee table book pretty pictures so its experimental results are largely (totally?) ignored by the popular press.

    --
    Martin Brown

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  • From RichA@21:1/5 to Martin Brown on Fri Jun 16 13:57:36 2023
    On Friday, 16 June 2023 at 08:15:41 UTC-4, Martin Brown wrote:
    On 16/06/2023 06:36, RichA wrote:
    Read this passage. It's from an article on "phys.org."

    "Planetary scientists have already gathered and studied ice samples in depth from Saturn and Jupiter's moons Enceladus and Europa with microfluidic devices."

    So, when did this happen?

    https://phys.org/news/2023-06-microfluidics-space-extraterrestrial-life-signatures.html
    The SDA or Surface Dust Analyser that flew on the probe past those moons
    was equipped with a micro miniature TOF mass spec. They analysed ice particles caught on the sensor surface for composition.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Dust_Analyser

    Or in much more detail:

    https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2014/EPSC2014-229.pdf

    It is a very cunning design and out in space they already have a vacuum!
    It doesn't produce coffee table book pretty pictures so its experimental results are largely (totally?) ignored by the popular press.

    --
    Martin Brown

    Fascinating. I remember seeing (decades ago) mass spectrometers the size of cars at a company called, "MDS Sciex."
    That they could shrink it down is impressive.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Andreas Kempe@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jun 28 12:14:58 2023
    Den 2023-06-16 skrev Martin Brown <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk>:
    On 16/06/2023 06:36, RichA wrote:
    Read this passage. It's from an article on "phys.org."

    "Planetary scientists have already gathered and studied ice samples in depth from Saturn and Jupiter's moons Enceladus and Europa with microfluidic devices."

    So, when did this happen?

    https://phys.org/news/2023-06-microfluidics-space-extraterrestrial-life-signatures.html

    The SDA or Surface Dust Analyser that flew on the probe past those moons
    was equipped with a micro miniature TOF mass spec.

    From what I understand reading Wikipedia, SUDA hasn't been used in
    space yet and previous missions used other, but similar devices. The
    Cassini CDA and Stardust CIDA are mentioned. According to NASA[0],
    the Europa Clipper will be launched in 2024 carrying the SUDA.

    They analysed ice particles caught on the sensor surface for
    composition.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_Dust_Analyser

    Or in much more detail:

    https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2014/EPSC2014-229.pdf

    It is a very cunning design and out in space they already have a vacuum!
    It doesn't produce coffee table book pretty pictures so its experimental results are largely (totally?) ignored by the popular press.


    Very interesting stuff! Thank you for a good read!

    [0]: https://europa.nasa.gov/mission/about/

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