VNIR spectroscopy of Mars Analogues with the ExoMars-Ma_Miss instrument .
Abstract
The ExoMars 2018 mission will investigate the Martian surface environment with the aim of searching for eventual present or past signs of life, and to obtain a characterization of Martian soil and subsoil. The investigation of the near-surface environment and of the shallow subsurface with complementary techniques, will provide insights on the chemical and mineralogical composition, material grain size, the litotypes, the stratigraphy: these information will help us to understand the geologic processes that characterized the history of the Martian crust. The Ma_Miss (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies) instrument \citep{coradini01} is a miniaturized visible and near-infrared spectrometer, integrated in the ExoMars Pasteur Rover Drill: it will acquire spectra of the borehole wall performed by the Drill, down to a depth up to two meters. Spectroscopic tests have been performed with the laboratory model (breadboard) on spectral targets and rock samples; furtherly, an activity of VNIR reflectance spectroscopy of Mars analogues has been begun with the breadboard to build a spectral library.
- Publication:
-
Memorie della Societa Astronomica Italiana Supplementi
- Pub Date:
- 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014MSAIS..26..121D
- Keywords:
-
- Mars: surface;
- Mars: subsurface;
- Mars: mineralogy;
- Mars: geology;
- Mars: terrestrial analogues;
- Reflectance Spectroscopy: VNIR