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Studying Rocks on Mars Using Light — NASA JPL lessonScience · Astronomy · Grades 9–12Lesson plan

When exploring Mars using robotic rovers, we need to be creative about how we perform experiments remotely. One way to do this is using spectroscopy – the study of light. Rovers can excite samples of rocks on Mars and measure the light emitted. Then, they send that data back to Earth for further analysis. Using known rock samples for comparison, students can do their own spectral analysis to determine what elements make up the rocks we expect rovers to find on Mars. Materials Metal-containing l

From NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL Education · Public domain (US Gov) · original source

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