Five years of Mainz technology on Mars
Thursday, January 15, 2009 - 12:49
in Astronomy & Space
On 4 January 2004, NASA's rover 'Spirit' landed safely on Mars after a seven-month voyage through space. Three weeks later, its twin 'Opportunity' also touched down unharmed on the red planet. Both these rovers were carrying investigational instruments constructed in Mainz. The miniaturised Moessbauer Spectrometer MIMOS II, which was developed at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry of Mainz University, and the alpha particle x-ray spectrometer (APXS) supplied by the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Chemistry in Mainz have made important contributions towards the marked success of this NASA double mission...