Final developments of the ChemCam Laser Source and potential applications for new planetology programs

Final developments of the Laser Source for ChemCam, a LIBS instrument that will be mounted on the Martian NASA mission MSL 2011, will be presented. The Flight Model of the laser has been developed and fully characterized by the French society Thales Optronique S.A. (former Thales Laser), under CNES funding. In a second part, the paper will present new studies made to demonstrate the possibility to use this laser for new planetology programs.