OrganiCam: A Light-Weight Standoff Time-Resolved Fluorescence Imager and Raman Spectrometer

The goal of this work is to mature to TRL 6 an instrument that can rapidly scan, find, and identify organic materials, facilitating the search for evidence of life on Mars or ocean worlds. Given the potential presence of organic materials on these bodies, NASA's goal of searching for life is now one of identifying concentrations of organic biosignatures. Therefore, we seek to mature a revolutionary instrument that will uniquely image organic materials at 10s of ppb levels from stand-off distances (to 5 m) and can be fielded by small landers, rovers, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Objective 1 is to advance and miniaturize the mechanical design, including swapping the current rectangular detector for a square detector, to produce an ultra-lightweight and space-ready version of the collection optics and spectrometer components. Objective 2 is to further miniaturize and adapt electronics and software from previous flight instrumentation. Objective 3 is to demonstrate and test the optical and detector components together in a Mars-like thermal vacuum chamber, and to shock and vibrate these components to demonstrate their feasibility to operate in a space environment. We propose to use time-resolved fluorescence imaging to uniquely highlight organic materials, maturing breadboard components that have been validated in the laboratory (TRL 4). The "OrganiCam" instrument is a laser-induced time-resolved fluorescence imager and Raman spectrometer that leverages Mars 2020 SuperCam technology. OrganiCam's 80 mm focal length optics are designed to image 1 mm fluorescent organic features, and collect their spectra, at 2 m, with 10s ppb level detection limits, while the Raman spectrum provides organic identification and mineralogic context. OrganiCam uses a diffuse expanded pulsed laser to illuminate a 20 degree region and uses camera optics and an intensified CCD detector to collect the prompt (100 ns timescale) fluorescence from organic material, thus collecting a fluorescence image of the illuminated area. Simultaneously, OrganiCam collects a fluorescence spectrum on the same detector. The laser diffuser is then switched to a collimated laser beam to collect a Raman spectrum of a spot. The detection of organics and biological materials in the OrganiCam imager relies on the behavior of fluorescence lifetimes of these materials; organics and biopolymers have very short lifetimes and minerals have long-lived luminescence. Hence, OrganiCam uniquely differentiates between organics and minerals by only recording signals of the fastest fluorescence emissions using a fast-gated (100 ns) intensified detector. Simultaneous collection of the image and spectrum of a target from up to 5 m away allows OrganiCam to have a very compact and lightweight design. These savings allow OrganiCam to fit onto a UAV (~4 kg payload), which could be a follow-on to the 2020 Mars Helicopter demonstration mission, to quickly survey an area for biological or organic materials and to use Raman to identify molecules and provide mineralogic context. OrganiCam is suited to address major questions outlined in the NASA 2015 Astrobiology Strategy of identifying, exploring, and characterizing environments for habitability and biosignatures. OrganiCam can help answer questions of "What contextual information is required to [interpret] biosignatures?" and "What new types of biosignatures can we identify and how can they be detected?" OrganiCam will address important questions from Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022, including "assess[ing] whether life is or was present on Mars in its geochemical context." OrganiCam will "characterize complex organics, the spatial distribution of chemical […] signatures, and the morphology of mineralogic signatures." OrganiCam is equally suitable for ocean world lander missions. OrganiCam is planetary science oriented and its maturation from TRL 4 to TRL 6 fits squarely in the MATISSE program.

Enabling lower cost innovative remote sensing instrument development from concept through breadboard and demonstration

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