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We use Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer engineering model data to develop mass-spectrometry-focused machine learning techniques. Initial results show that the preliminary categorization could permit autonomous operations, such as prioritizing example data and decisions about retuning parameters for specific samples.

The Neutral Mass Spectrometer (NMS) of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) Mission is designed to measure the composition and variability of the tenuous lunar atmosphere. The NMS complements two other instruments on the LADEE spacecraft designed to secure spectroscopic measurements of lunar composition and in situ measurement of lunar dust over the course of a 100-day mission in order to sample multiple lunation periods. The NMS utilizes a dual ion source designed to measure both surface reactive and inert species and a quadrupole analyzer. The NMS is expected to secure time resolved measurements of helium and argon and determine abundance or upper limits for many other species either sputtered or thermally evolved from the lunar surface.

The Rapid infrared IMAger-Spectrometer (RIMAS) is a rapid gamma-ray burst afterglow instrument that will provide photometric and spectroscopic coverage of the Y, J, H, and K bands. RIMAS separates light into two optical arms, YJ and HK, which allows for simultaneous coverage in two photometric bands. RIMAS utilizes two 2048 x 2048 pixel Teledyne HgCdTe (HAWAII-2RG) detectors along with a Spitzer Legacy Indium- Antimonide (InSb) guiding detector in spectroscopic mode to position and keep the source on the slit. We describe the software and hardware development for the detector driver and acquisition systems. The HAWAII- 2RG detectors simultaneously acquire images using Astronomical Research Cameras, Inc. driver, timing, and processing boards with two C++ wrappers running assembly code. The InSb detector clocking and acquisition system runs on a National Instruments cRIO-9074 with a Labview user interface and clocks written in an easily alterable ASCII file. We report the read noise, linearity, and dynamic range of our guide detector. Finally, we present RIMAS’s estimated instrument efficiency in photometric imaging mode (for all three detectors) and expected limiting magnitudes. Our efficiency calculations include atmospheric transmission models, filter models, telescope components, and optics components for each optical arm.

The Johns Hopkins University sounding rocket group is entering the final fabrication phase of the Far-ultraviolet Off Rowland-circle Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy (FORTIS); a sounding rocket borne multi-object spectro-telescope designed to provide spectral coverage of 43 separate targets in the 900 - 1800 Angstrom bandpass over a 30' x 30' field-of-view. Using "on-the-fly" target acquisition and spectral multiplexing enabled by a GSFC microshutter array, FORTIS will be capable of observing the brightest regions in the far-UV of nearby low redshift (z approximately 0.002 - 0.02) star forming galaxies to search for Lyman alpha escape, and to measure the local gas-to-dust ratio. A large area (approximately 45 mm x 170 mm) microchannel plate detector built by Sensor Sciences provides an imaging channel for targeting flanked by two redundant spectral outrigger channels. The grating is ruled directly onto the secondary mirror to increase efficiency. In this paper, we discuss the recent progress made in the development and fabrication of FORTIS, as well as the results of early calibration and characterization of our hardware, including mirror/grating measurements, detector performance, and early operational tests of the micro shutter arrays.

The Johns Hopkins University sounding rocket group is building the Far-ultraviolet Off Rowland-circle Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy (FORTIS), which is a Gregorian telescope with rulings on the secondary mirror. FORTIS will be launched on a sounding rocket from White Sand Missile Range to study the relationship between Lyman alpha escape and the local gas-to-dust ratio in star forming galaxies with non-zero redshifts. It is designed to acquire images of a 30' x 30' field and provide fully redundant "on-the-fly" spectral acquisition of 43 separate targets in the field with a bandpass of 900 - 1800 Angstroms. FORTIS is an enabling scientific and technical activity for future cutting edge far- and near-uv survey missions seeking to: search for Lyman continuum radiation leaking from star forming galaxies, determine the epoch of He II reionization and characterize baryon acoustic oscillations using the Lyman forest. In addition to the high efficiency "two bounce" dual-order spectro-telescope design, FORTIS incorporates a number of innovative technologies including: an image dissecting microshutter array developed by GSFC; a large area (~ 45 mm x 170 mm) microchannel plate detector with central imaging and "outrigger" spectral channels provided by Sensor Sciences; and an autonomous targeting microprocessor incorporating commercially available field programable gate arrays. We discuss progress to date in developing our pathfinder instrument.