25-10-2012, 11:30 AM
Approaching Suspicious Substances Safely
ABSTRACT
A mineral identification tool that was developed for NASA’s Mars Rover Technology Development program is now
serving as a powerful tool for U.S. law enforcement agencies and military personnel to identify suspicious liquid and solid
substances. The tool can measure unknown substances through glass and plastic packaging materials with the
RamanProbe(TradeMark) focused fiber-optic probe. The probe length can be extended up to 200 meters to enable users to
analyze potentially dangerous substances at a safe distance. In many cases, the spectrometer and personnel are kept in a safe
zone while the probe is positioned next to the sample being analyzed. Being able to identify chemicals in remote locations
also saves users time and labor, since otherwise the samples would need to be collected, transported, and prepared prior to
measurement in the laboratory.