LIBS BASED TOOL FOR VERIFICATION AND DECONTAMINATION OF SPACECRAFT. IN SOME CASES THE APPROVED CLEANING METHODS PRESCRIBED BY THE NASA PLANETARY PROTECTION OFFICE (PPO) TO MEET THE MAXIMUM BIOLOADING REQUIREMENT ON HIGHER CATEGORY MISSIONS MAY BE NOT BE POSSIBLE WITH CURRENT LIFE-DETECT INSTRUMENTS THAT CARRY BIO CHIPS. THIS IS BECAUSE THE CHIPS CANNOT BE BAKED OR EXPOSED TO CHEMICALS. MOREOVER A HARDWARE RE-CONTAMINATION OF BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS REQUIRES RE-CLEANING WHICH MAY NOT BE PRACTICAL AFTER SYSTEMS INTEGRATION. WE WILL PROPOSE THE APPLICATION OF MULTI-PULSE MODULATED LASER INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROSCOPY (LIBS) TO DESTROY BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION WITHOUT SUBSTRATE DAMAGE AND TO CREATE A LIBS SPECTRAL LIBRARY FOR SPACECRAFT MATERIALS THAT WILL ENABLE IN SITU VERIFICATION OF THE DE-CONTAMINATION PROCESS DURING CLEANING. USING THE AEROSPACE CORPORATIONS RENOWNED LASER AND DETECTOR CAPABILITIES COUPLED WITH LASER AMPLITUDE MODULATION AND MULTIPULSE TECHNIQUES ALREADY DEVELOPED WE HAVE ASSEMBLED AN ADVANCED LIBS SYSTEM THAT COULD BE MINIATURIZED AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE. WE PLAN TO APPLY THE ADVANCED LIBS SYSTEM TO CREATE A SPECTRAL LIBRARY FOR SPACECRAFT MATERIALS AND KNOWN BIO-CONTAMINATION. KEY GOALS ARE CHARACTERIZING LIBS DAMAGE THRESHOLDS FOR LIKELY SUBSTRATES AND DEVELOPING A SPECTROSCOPIC PROCESS THAT UTILIZES MULTI-COLOR MULTIPULSE AND TIME DOMAIN DELAY EXCITATION TO ACHIEVE THE BEST DETECTION LIMIT FOR VERIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS AT THE SAME TIME. LIBS (ALSO KNOWN AS EMMA) IS A MICROANALYSIS TOOL THAT OPERATES BY ANALYZING THE SIGNATURE OF THE LASER PRODUCED PLASMA TO CHARACTERIZE THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION IN METALS ROCKS (E.G. MARS 2020 ROVER) AND MATERIALS. LIBS RELIES ON FLORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY WITH ITS INHERENTLY HIGH DETECTION LIMITS. LIBS IS USEFUL BECAUSE ONLY NANO TO PICOGRAMS OF MATERIAL NEED TO BE REMOVED WITH MINIMAL SAMPLE PREPARATION. A KEY BYPRODUCT IS THE FORMATION OF THE PLASMA WHICH THIS PROPOSAL WILL DEMONSTRATE AS A MEANS TO REMOVING BIOLOGICALS FROM SURFACES. IN MOST LIBS TOOLS THE LASER REPETITION RATE IS KEPT LOW TO ALLOW THE PLASMA TO QUENCH BETWEEN LASER SHOTS. THIS INCREASES THE SIGNAL TO NOISE FOR SPECTRUM GATHERING. OUR PROPOSED APPROACH INCORPORATES TIME-DOMAIN MODULATION OF THE LASER REPETITION RATE AND AMPLITUDE TO FEED THE PLASMA FOR BIOLOGICAL REMOVAL WITH IN-BETWEEN SPURTS OF LOWER-REPETITION RATE SPECTRUM GATHERING. MOREOVER WE INTEND TO ENHANCE THE LIBS TECHNIQUE BY FURTHER DEVELOPING OUR DOUBLE PULSE MULTI-COLOR EXPOSURE THAT WILL ALLOW CHARACTERIZATION OF SPECIES THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO IONIZE. THESE RESULTS ARE POSSIBLE BECAUSE THE AEROSPACE CORP HAS DEVELOPED A DEEP KNOWLEDGE BASE IN PRECISE FOCUSED NANOSCALE LASER ABLATION TECHNIQUES THAT IS WORLD CLASS. WE HAVE DESIGNED A LIBS SYSTEM WITH SIGNIFICANTLY MORE VERSATILITY (MULTIPLE WAVELENGTHS AND RELATION RATES) AND POTENTIALLY MUCH LOWER BACKGROUND WITH HIGHER DETECTION LIMITS THEN THAT FOUND IN THE LITERATURE. WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED ITS FUNCTIONAL USE ON AL SI AND KAPTON. WE WILL PROPOSE A PROGRAM TO CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE WAVELENGTH AND REPETITION RATE EFFECTS TO OPTIMIZE THE SYSTEM FOR VARIOUS MATERIALS AND BIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATES THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO PLANETARY PROTECTION THE GOAL IS TO DEMONSTRATE A CLEANING AND VERIFICATION METHOD FOR PLANETARY PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS THROUGH THE FOLLOWING INVESTIGATION: TEST A NUMBER OF SPACECRAFT MATERIALS AND NATIVE BACTERIA WITH RESULTING SPECTRA COMPARED WITH THAT IN LITERATURE BEGIN TO ESTABLISH A SPECTRAL LIBRARY OF MATERIALS AND A PROCESS FOR OBTAINING THE BEST DETECTION LIMITS QUANTIFY DETECTION LIMITS PURPOSE OUR ADVANCED LIBS SYSTEM WITH SOFTWARE/HARDWARE CONTROL THAT COUPLES LASER AMPLITUDE MODULATION AND MULTIPULSE TECHNIQUES SUCH THAT THEY ARE OPTIMIZED FOR PLANETARY PROTECTION APPLICATIONS.