Missions to Mars: Characterisation of Mars analogue rocks for the International Space Analogue Rockstore (ISAR)

Abstract

Instruments for surface missions to extraterrestrial bodies should be cross-calibrated using a common suite of relevant materials. Such work is necessary to improve instrument performance and aids in the interpretation of in-situ measurements. At the CNRS campus in Orléans, the Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre (OSUC) has created a collection of well-characterised rocks and minerals for testing and calibrating instruments to be flown in space missions. The characteristics of the analogue materials are documented in an accompanying online database. In view of the recent and upcoming rover missions to Mars (NASA's 2011 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and ESA/Roscosmos' 2018 ExoMars), we are concentrating initially on materials of direct relevance to the red planet. The initial collection consists of 15 well-studied rock and mineral samples, including a variety of basalts (ultramafic, weathered, silicified, primitive), sediments (volcanic sands, chert, and a banded iron formation -BIF-), and the phyllosilicate nontronite (a clay). All the samples were characterised petrographically, petrologically, and geochemically using the types of analyses likely to be performed during in-situ missions, in particular ExoMars: hand specimen description; optical microscopy; mineralogical analysis by XRD, Raman and IR spectrometry; iron phase analysis by Mössbauer spectroscopy (MBS), elemental analysis by Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), microprobe, Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) and Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS); and reduced carbon analysis by Raman spectrometry.

Microimaging VIS‐IR spectroscopy of ancient volcanic rocks as Mars analogues

“…The precursor rocks could have been acidic because mafic minerals, such as olivine or pyroxene, were not identified (although they could have been completely altered to phyllosilicate). The primary minerals of this sample could have been silica (glass), K‐feldspar, and opaques (rutile), which suffered devitrification and aqueous alteration, as summarized in Table and identified by mineralogical techniques [ Bost et al ., ].…”

“…This information, originally, was all that was known about the samples. All the rocks from this collection had been previously fully characterized using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, optical microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Electron Microprobe (EMP) in the framework of the ISAR project [ Bost et al ., ; ]. From this collection, two samples labeled “sample A” and “sample B” were chosen for the blind test.…”

“…In order to constitute a reference library for spectroscopic identification of materials, Bost et al . [] developed a collection named the International Space Analogue Rockstore (ISAR) in Orléans, France. In this collection, minerals and rocks were characterized by mineralogical and petrographical techniques, with the aim of supporting diffuse reflectance spectroscopy in the visible and near‐infrared range.…”

Earth as a Tool for Astrobiology—A European Perspective

“…PhD students and engineers), as well as science and operation teams; (iv) engaging the public, space agencies, media, and educators; and (v) defining detectable biosignatures from extant/extinct life, the limits of life and habitability on Earth (Lee 2007;Léveillé 2009). There are currently a few on-line databases for planetary field analogue rocks and sites, such as: (i) the International Space Analogue Rockstore (ISAR), which is a collection of wellcharacterized rocks used for testing and calibrating instruments to be flown on space missions (Bost et al 2013) (http://www.isar.cnrs-orleans.fr/isar/). The ISAR is located in the Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire (CBM) of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Orléans, and is supported by the Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en Région Centre (OSUC), the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), and ESA; (ii) the Concepts for Activities in the Field for Exploration (CAFE), which was commissioned by ESA (Preston et al 2013a), and resulted in a catalogue of all planetary field analogue sites used and currently in use (Preston et al 2013b).…”

Testing the ability of the ExoMars 2018 payload to document geological context and potential habitability on Mars

“…In support of this mission, Bost et al (2013) developed a collection of Mars analogue rocks and minerals collectively known as the International Space Analogue Rockstore (ISAR, www.isar. cnrs-orleans.fr), stored at the CNRS in Orléans, France.…”