- 11DLR, Institute for Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany
- 2Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany
Sample return missions provide the ultimate ground truth for interpretation of remote sensing data and enable an unprecedented level of analysis compared to in-situ instruments. In response to the explosion of interest in this field in recent years the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin is constructing a Sample Analysis Laboratory (SAL) for the analysis and curation of returned samples in close cooperation with the Museum für Naturkunde (MfN), and in collaboration with colleagues at NASA and JAXA. Key topics to which SAL will contribute are the formation and evolution of planetary bodies, detection of organics and the history of hydration, oxidation and alteration of samples, as well as possible traces or signs of extinct life.
The laboratory will provide a cleanroom environment of approximately 80 m2, with a space below of similar footprint housing the technical equipment (vacuum pumps, water cooling etc.). The major analytical instruments have already been purchased for SAL: a JEOL iHP200F Field Emission Electron Microprobe Analyzer (FE-EMPA), a JEOL JSM-IT800 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FEG-SEM) and a Malvern Panalytical Empyrean X-ray Diffraction (XRD) system. These instruments have sealed transport containers allowing transport of sensitive material under controlled atmospheres. In addition, two ISO-5 level, N2-purged, glove boxes are planned for storage and sample manipulation and preparation.
The complementary range of instrumentation in a cleanroom environment with controlled sample storage and preparation glove boxes, in addition to the existing PSL, PASLAB and Raman laboratory spectroscopy facilities on site, constitute a strong basis for the long-term goal of establishing a European center for extraterrestrial sample curation and analysis in Berlin. The SAL cleanroom construction is planned to be finished in the summer of 2025, with operation and commissioning due to be well under way by autumn. This contribution will give an overview of the DLR Sample Analysis Laboratory, the time plan and major goals for the coming years.
Keywords: Extraterrestrial samples, sample return, meteorites, laboratory measurements.
How to cite: Garland, S., Helbert, J., Van den Neucker, A., Bonato, E., Greshake, A., Maturilli, A., Alemanno, G., Hecht, L., Adeli, S., Büttner, I., and Rauer, H.: The sample analysis laboratory (SAL) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Berlin – A cutting edge laboratory for extraterrestrial material analysis, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-21780, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-21780, 2025.
