Abstract
AbstractIn 2022, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos will launch the ExoMars rover, with the scientific objective to detect evidence of life within the Martian surface via the deployment of a 2 m drill. The ExoMars Pasteur payload contains several imaging and spectroscopic instruments key to this objective: the Panoramic Camera (PanCam), Infrared Spectrometer for ExoMars (ISEM), and Close‐UP Imager (CLUPI). These instruments are able to collect data at a variety of spatial (sub‐mm to decimeter) and spectral (3.3 to 120 nm) resolutions across the 440 to 3,300 nm wavelength range and collectively will form a picture of the geological and morphological characteristics of the surface terrain surrounding the rover. We deployed emulators of this instrument suite at terrestrial analog sites that formed in a range of aqueous environments to test their ability to detect and characterize science targets. We find that the emulator suite is able to effectively detect, characterize, and refine the compositions of multiple targets at working distances spanning from 2 to 18 m. We report on (a) the detection of hydrothermal alteration minerals including Fe‐smectites and gypsum from basaltic substrates, (b) the detection of late‐stage diagenetic gypsum veins embedded in exposures of sedimentary mudstone, (c) multispectral evidence of compositional differences detected from fossiliferous mudstones, and (d) approaches to cross‐referencing multi‐scale and multi‐resolution data. These findings aid in the development of data products and analysis toolkits in advance of the ExoMars rover mission.
Highlights
In 2020, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) will deliver the ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin and surface platform to the surface of Mars, whose communications with Earth will be supported by the already operational ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO)
The ExoMars rover Pasteur payload (Barnes et al, 2006; Vago et al, 2017) contains a suite of nine instruments plus a subsurface drill, which will be used to address ExoMars' primary objective of detecting evidence of extinct life within subsurface deposits (McMahon et al, 2018; Vago et al, 2017). Among these are a number of imaging instruments, including the Panoramic Camera (PanCam) (Coates et al, 2017) and the CLose UP Imager (CLUPI) (Josset et al, 2017), with point hyperspectral data provided by the Infrared Spectrometer for ExoMars (ISEM) (Korablev et al, 2017)
Crosscutting Mineral Features Outcrops at Iceland (Pillow, Altered Pillow, and Tjörnes) and Utah (Torrey) all feature either high-albedo crosscutting mineral veins (Pillow, Altered Pillow, and Torrey) or discrete carbonate mineral features (Tjörnes), which were used to investigate the utility of the ExoMars emulator suite in the detection and characterization of high-albedo, hydrated mineral deposits
Summary
In 2020, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) will deliver the ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin and surface platform to the surface of Mars, whose communications with Earth will be supported by the already operational ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). The ExoMars rover Pasteur payload (Barnes et al, 2006; Vago et al, 2017) contains a suite of nine instruments plus a subsurface drill, which will be used to address ExoMars' primary objective of detecting evidence of extinct life within subsurface deposits (McMahon et al, 2018; Vago et al, 2017) Among these are a number of imaging instruments, including the Panoramic Camera (PanCam) (Coates et al, 2017) and the CLose UP Imager (CLUPI) (Josset et al, 2017), with point hyperspectral data provided by the Infrared Spectrometer for ExoMars (ISEM) (Korablev et al, 2017). Data from PanCam, ISEM, and CLUPI will augment existing, coarser-resolution orbital information (The ExoMars 2018 Landing Site Selection Working Group (LSSWG), 2014) with multiscale observations of surface morphology, color, texture, grain size, and compositional information to provide the environmental context for tactical and strategic planning operations and support the prioritization of drilling locations where pristine subsurface material can be accessed
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