ABOUT

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

Samples

  1. Remnant rock and mineral samples (Wards Scientific) acquired for training of Apollo astronauts.
  2. Remnant rock, mineral, and reference (e.g., Clay Mineral Society) samples acquired from ARES laboratories.
  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., Maunakea, Maunaloa, and Kilauea volcanos and the Ka’u Desert).
  4. Martian and non-martian meteorite samples allocated by the Antarctic Meteorite Curator or contributed by colleagues.
  5. Lunar rock and soil samples allocated to R.V. Morris by the Lunar Sample Curator in accordance with the Lunar Sample Allocation Guidebook (2012).
  6. Commercial samples, primarily synthetic equivalents of geologically relevant compositions (e.g., hydrated Mg-sulfates).
  7. Natural samples altered by laboratory-equivalents of geogenic (not anthropogenic) activity.
  8. Samples from the planetary science community accumulated over more than 50 years.

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 record name begins with one of the following 4-character prefixes which define, in broad categories, sample origin:

  1. Erth: Terrestrial samples.
  2. Mars: Martian meteorites.
  3. Metr: Non-Martian meteorites, but not lunar meteorites.
  4. Moon: Lunar samples, including lunar meteorites.
  5. Synt: Synthetic samples, including commercial products and naturally-occurring samples that have been studied after chemical or mineralogical altered from their original state in laboratory experiments.

The above 5 prefixes are retained in sample names for size fractions derived by sieving of unconsolidated samples and for rock powders obtained by mechanical grinding.

After a prefix are parent and daughter names designed provide as much information as possible about the sample in a single text string. Parent names are an alphanumeric that normally includes information related to sample collection location and date, geologic feature, mineralogy, and/or chemistry. Daughter names include descriptive information such as size fraction (e.g., LT0500 = less than 500 µm size fraction), magnetic fraction, sample treatment (e.g., Air400C021H = heated in air at 400 °C for 21 hr), step number or distance in a traverse, and (if applicable) analysis location number. All numeric values in sample names related to size and distance are in units of micrometers (µm) by default. The final 4 elements of the record name are the analysis-instrument name, the number of analyzes averaged (if applicable), the analysis conditions (e.g., Air025C = lab air at nominally 25 °C), and analysis date (year-month-day format, e.g., 20260209). The naming scheme can generate long names, but the approach was taken (1) to provide unique names (a database requirement) across multiple daughter names, analysis instruments, and analysis dates for the same parent name and (2) to provide useful information for users to discriminate among samples and how they were analyzed.

Analysis methods

The ITSS database includes multidisciplinary, coordinated analyses. Each database record includes an instrument name and data acquisition date (except as noted per instrument), and analysis conditions (normally laboratory air at ~25 °C), as discussed above. The database includes results from the following measurement techniques:

  • 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.

Instrument names embedded in data records are given the section on instrument descriptions and analysis methodology.

Instruments and Procedures

Acknowledgment 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 the acquisition and analysis of solid geologic samples from the Earth, Moon, and martian and non-martian meteorites. We thank multiple colleagues for contributing samples for analyses over the years. The ITSS database is funded in part by NASA’s ISFM Program. We acknowledge the Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office for their support in the allocation of samples via peer-review. We thank the Open Planetary Science Initiative (OPScI) and the Open Data Repository (ODR) for providing the database framework.

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