TECHNOLOGY

Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) Instrument

Click on the yellow hotspots and roll over the blue and green hotspots to explore how the GRaND instrument works.

The Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) instrument interactive illustrates how scientists learn about the composition of an asteroid by studying energy and neutrons that emanate from it. The Dawn spacecraft contains three instruments (GRaND, Visible Infrared Spectrometer, and the Framing Camera) that will provide new answers to questions about the formation and evolution of the early solar system.

- See diagram of Electromagnetic Spectrum
- Dawn Dictionary
- Listen to GRaND Principal Investigator Tom Prettyman explain the diagram above (MP3 Run time: 6 min.)
- Read transcript of Tom Prettyman explaining diagram above (PDF 40 Kb)
- Download QuickTime Player
- Download Adobe Flash Player
- Read article written by Tom Prettyman (Article originally published in the Encyclopedia of the Solar System (Second Edition), Lucy-Ann McFadden, Paul R. Weissman and Torrence V. Johnson, Remote Chemical Sensing Using Nuclear Spectroscopy, Pages 765-786, copyright © Elsevier Inc. 2007)