Raman spectroscopy, named after C.V. Raman, is a spectroscopic technique which was first
discovered over half a century ago and has led to numerous scientific achievements. Over that
period, several variations of this technique have been developed. In this presentation, I will discuss a specific technique, which is a variation of Raman spectroscopy called spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS). SORS is a non-destructive, chemical characterization technique which collects diffusely scattered lights from the sample. SORS can analyze the chemical composition of the materials that are at deeper depth than a conventional Raman spectroscopy. Due to this, the application of SORS has a very wide range of applications that can analyze the chemical content of unopened containers of pharmaceutical product or explosive materials, diagnose bone disorder, monitor quality of food, and many more. This presentation will discuss more about the SORS technique in comparison to conventional Raman and some of its other variant techniques, current and future applications in various fields, and some of its limitations.

Mosca, S.; Conti, C.; Stone, N.; Matousek, P. Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy. Nature Reviews Methods Primers 2021, 1 (1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-021-00019-0

It is widely accepted that chondrules, which are some of the oldest known solids in the solar system found in many meteorites, serve as crucial building blocks for the formation of asteroids and planets. What is not widely accepted is the process by which chondrules came to be. In this talk we will explore questions to help us better understand the origins on this planet we find ourselves on. The EXCISS experiment shall be discussed as one of many important steps to find the answers we seek.

D. Spahr et al., “A chondrule formation experiment aboard the ISS: Experimental set-up and test experiments,” Icarus, vol. 350, p. 113898, Nov. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113898