Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons
The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument is an experiment mounted on the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover. It is a pulsed sealed-tube neutron source and detector used to measure hydrogen or ice and water at or near the Martian surface. The instrument consists of the detector element (DE) and a 14.1 MeV pulsing neutron generator (PNG). The die-away time of neutrons is measured by the DE after each neutron pulse from the PNG. DAN was provided by the Russian Federal Space Agency, funded by Russia and is under the leadership of Principal Investigator Igor Mitrofanov.
DAN instrument on the Curiosity rover | |
| Operator | NASA |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Russian Space Research Institute (IKI) |
| Instrument type | neutron spectrometer |
| Function | hydrogen and H2O detector |
| Mission duration | Primary: 668 sols (687 days) Current: 4067 sols (4178 days) since landing |
| Began operations | August 6, 2012 |
| Website | msl-scicorner |
| Host spacecraft | |
| Spacecraft | Curiosity rover |
| Operator | NASA |
| Launch date | November 26, 2011, 15:02:00 UTC |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral LC-41 |
| COSPAR ID | 2011-070A |
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