THE MARS OXIDANT EXPERIMENT (MOX) FOR MARS-96

The MOx instrument was developed to characterize the reactive nature o f the martian soil. The objectives of MOx were: (1) to measure the rat e of degradation of organics in the martian environment; (2) to determ ine if the reactions seen by the Viking biology experiments were cause d by a soil oxidant and measure the reactivity of the soil and atmosph ere; (3) to monitor the degradation, when exposed to the martian envir onment, of materials of potential use in future missions; and, finally , (4) to develop technologies and approaches that can be part of futu re soil analysis instrumentation. The basic approach taken in the MOx instrument was to place a variety of materials composed as thin films in contact with the soil and monitor the physical and chemical changes that result. The optical reflectance of the thin films was the primar y sensing-mode. Thin films of organic materials, metals, and semicondu ctors were prepared. Laboratory simulations demonstrated the response of thin films to active oxidants. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All r ights reserved.