The NASA Curiosity Rover Exploring Mars Carries a Number of Scientific

question 63

Essay

The NASA Curiosity rover exploring Mars carries a number of scientific instruments, including a spectrograph (a device for recording a spectrum), and a high intensity laser. On several occasions, Curiosity has fired its laser at the surface of a rock sample, while observing the process with a spectroscope. The laser is intense enough to vaporize the atoms on the surface of the sample into a hot, excited gas.
Why is this a useful technique for the rover to employ?

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Definitions:

Market Supply

The total quantity of a good or service that producers are willing and able to sell at various prices during a given time period.

Market Demand

is the total amount of a product or service that consumers in a market are willing and able to purchase at different prices, during a certain time period.

Deadweight Loss

A loss of economic efficiency that occurs when the equilibrium for a good or service is not achieved or is unattainable.

Market Equilibrium

An equilibrium where market demand matches supply, causing price stability.