The Ma_Miss instrument performance, I: Analysis of rocks powders by Martian VNIR spectrometer

• VNIR spectroscopy measures performed with ExoMars/Ma_Miss breadboard and FieldSpec.
• Breadboard setup: high spatial resolution (120 μm) and 0.35–2.5 μm spectral range.
• Six particulate rocks analysed in nine grain-sizes, from d<0.02 mm to 0.50–0.80 mm.
• Spectral parameters (continuum slopes and reflectance values in VIS–NIR) analysed.
• Slope and reflectance vs. grain size trends are consistent for the two instruments.

The ExoMars/Ma_Miss instrument is a miniaturized spectrometer that will observe the Martian subsoil in the visible and near infrared range (VNIR, 0.4–2.2 μm) with high spatial resolution, 120 μm. It will be integrated in the Drilling system of the Pasteur Rover of the ExoMars 2018 mission, and will acquire reflectance spectra of the borehole wall performed by the Drill, at various depths down to 2 m. The laboratory breadboard instrument consists of the main subsystems: illumination system, optical fibres for illumination and signal collection, and optical elements for light focusing. It has been interfaced with a commercial spectrometer, the FieldSpec Pro©.The primary aim of this work is to compare the VNIR measurements and spectral parameters derived from the spectra acquired with the Ma_Miss breadboard and with a second laboratory setup.Reflectance spectra have been acquired on a set of six rock powder samples representative of Martian soil. Nine different grain size ranges of each sample have been measured with the breadboard and five spectral parameters were used to explore the Ma_Miss spectra. Those data were compared with spectra acquired by the FieldSpec Pro® coupled with a goniometer. The analyses of these spectral parameters evidence the correlation between the VNIR continuum slope and the grain size, and the correlation between the reflectance and the grain size; both the parameters tend to decrease as the grain size increases. The trends observed with Ma_Miss breadboard for NIR and VNIR slopes and for the reflectance are clearly consistent with the trends observed with the spectro-goniometer setup, although small differences are seen that can be explained with the different viewing geometries of the two instruments. Ma_Miss proves to have great capabilities for extracting spectroscopic information to constrain the mineralogy and some physical parameters of the analysed material.