Design of low power, low noise & miniaturized electronics for methane sensors for mars

India's future science vision emphasizes planetary explorations for better understanding of the universe, finding new domains of material resources, energy, environmental systems and habitat. Mars has a special significance of having many similarities with Earth. Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) is one of the significant payloads of India's first mars mission. The prime objective of the proposed Methane (CH₄) Sensor for Mars (MSM) is to measure concentration of methane in the Martian atmosphere. The sensor configurations were worked out keeping in mind the mission requirements for low weight & power, while ensuring all the performance goals are met. This paper presents the design and development of low power miniaturized Proximity electronics module for MSM. The key challenges in the design of Proximity front end electronics are very low noise precision bias generator, low noise current to voltage conversion and low noise digitizer prior to final data. Proximity electronics also performs the function of temperature control of detectors and etalons. The proposed Proximity electronics system is modular catering to two channels realized in a low power, weight & size tray package. Proximity Electronics is realized in less than 500g and consumes power <;4W.