Spectrometer for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

With the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) instrument just above his head, a technician at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center works on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft in July 2005. CRISM, the first visible-infrared spectrometer to fly on a NASA Mars mission, will look for the residue of minerals that form in the presence of water – the “fingerprints” left by evaporated hot springs, thermal vents, lakes or ponds. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., led the effort to develop, test and integrate CRISM. Principal Investigator Scott Murchie, of APL, leads the CRISM project.