NASA investments in in situ technologies and instruments for sample return missions

Instrument technologies for the in situ exploration of planets are of particular interest for future NASA planetary science missions.¹² In situ analysis is complicated because answering specific science questions requires technologies suited to specific extreme environments. In situ measurements may be based on instrument systems that utilize photon sources, electron sources, mass spectrometry, and wet and dry chemical analysis techniques. Investments supporting the development of space-based in situ instruments include lasers, seismology, spectrometry, radiometry, and geochemistry, as well as electronics for extreme temperatures and sample acquisition and handling technologies. Many of these, as well as numerous other planetary science instrument technologies, such as remote sensing instruments, are designed, tested and demonstrated in NASA´s Planetary Instrument Definition and Development Program (PIDDP).