ABOUT

It’s the Solid Samples (ITSS) database is a collection of multidisciplinary analyses of planetary analog (terrestrial) samples and meteorite and lunar samples (by approved allocation) resident at the Johnson Space Center, the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division. 

Terrestrial samples include:

  1. Remnants of the collection of rocks and minerals (Wards Scientific) previously acquired for training of Apollo astronauts
  2. Rocks, minerals, and reference (e.g., Clay Mineral Society) samples acquired when individuals retired (or moved on) from NASA
  3. Samples collected during multiple field campaigns (from 1995) to Hawaiian volcanos and surrounding regions primarily on the Big Island of Hawai’i (e.g., summit region of Maunakea, Kilauea volcano, and the Ka’u Desert)
  4. Samples kindly provide by colleagues over the last 50 years
  5. Martian and non-martian meteorite samples allocated for study by the Meteorite Working Group or provided by individuals
  6. Lunar rock and soil samples allocated for study by the Lunar Sample Curator in accordance with the Lunar Sample Allocation Guidebook (2007)
  7. Purchased samples, primarily synthetic equivalents of geologically relevant compositions (e.g., hydrated Mg-Sulfates)

The ITSS database is largely centered on analysis of rocks (i.e., coherent, multi-component assemblages) and not “pure” mineral specimens.

Structure

The ITSS database is structured around sample origin and analysis instrument names. Each data file begins with one of the following 5-character prefixes:

  1. Erth_: Origin terrestrial geogenic processes.
  2. Mars_: Origin Martian meteorites.
  3. Metr_: Origin non-Martian meteorites, but not lunar meteorites.
  4. Moon_: Origin Moon, including lunar meteorites.
  5. Synt_: Origin synthetic. Includes terrestrial, martian and non-martian meteorites that have been studied after chemical or mineralogical altered from their original state. This prefix is not used for size fractions derived by sieving of unconsolidated samples and for size fractions derived from powders produced by mechanical grinding of coherent rock.

Most sample names include what is often regarded as metadata (e.g., size fraction, sample treatment, and analysis conditions), which can lead to long filenames. This approach was taken, recognizing there many samples in the database, because we found it improves the speed of a user in recognizing the relevance of a particular sample.

Analysis methods

The ITSS database includes multidisciplinary, coordinated analyses. Each sample filename includes an instrument name and date of data acquisition (except as noted per instrument), and analysis conditions (normally air at ~25 C). Select the analysis method for instrument descriptions and analysis methodology.

  • Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD).
  • Major element chemistry.
  • Visible, near-IR (VNIR) reflectance spectroscopy.
  • Deep UV (DUV) Raman spectroscopy.
  • DUV fluorescence spectroscopy.
  • Thermal analysis.
    • Thermal gravimetry (TG).
    • Differential scanning colometry (DSC).
    • Evolved gas analysis (EGA).
  • Mössbauer spectroscopy.
Instruments and Procedures

Acknowledgement to our sponsors and contributors

We thank NASA Research and Analysis Programs and NASA Landed and Rover Missions over the last 50 years that included as an essential element acquisition and analysis of solid geologic samples from the Earth, Moon, and Meteorites (martian and non-martian). We thank multiple colleagues for contributing samples for a specific analysis but succumbed to multidisciplinary analyses over the years. The ITSS database is funded in part by the ISFM Program to the Mission Enabling Work Package at the NASA Johnson Space Center.  We thank the Open Planetary Science Initiative (OPScI) and the Open Data Repository (ODR) for providing the database framework.

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