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EXOMARS Mission Status and CLUPI: a high performance imaging system on the rover of the 2018 mission to discover biofabrics on Mars J.-L. Josset (1),*, F. Westall (2), B. A. Hofmann (3), J. G. Spray (4), C. Cockell (5), S. Kempe (6), A. D. Griffiths (7), A. Coradini (8), L. Colangeli (10), D. Koschny (10), D. Pullan (11) , K. Föllmi (12), L. Diamond (13), M. Josset1, E. Javaux (14), F. Esposito (9) 1.Space Exploration Institute, Neuchâtel, Switzerland; 2.Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire, Orléans, France; 3.Natural History Museum, Bern, Switzerland; 4.Planetary and Space Science Centre, University of New Brunswick, Canada; 5.Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom; 6.Geosciences University of Technology Darmstadt, Germany; 7.University College London, United Kingdom; 8.Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, Roma, Italy; 9.Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Napoli, Italy; 10.ESA, RSSD, The Netherlands; 11.Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, United Kingdom; 12.Institute of Geology and Paleontology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; 13.Institute for Geological sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland; 14.Departement de Géologie, Unité PPM, University of Liège, Belgium *Corresponding author: Dr Jean-Luc Josset, email address: jean-luc.josset@space-x.ch, telephone: + 41 32 889 68 69, fax number: + 41 32 889 69 73 Abstract The scientific objectives of the 2018 ExoMars rover mission are to search for traces of past or present life and to characterise the near-sub surface. Both objectives require study of the rock/regolith materials in terms of structure, textures, mineralogy, and elemental and organic composition. The 2018 ExoMars rover payload consists of a suite of complementary instruments designed to reach these objectives. A brief mission overview and status will be presented. CLUPI, the high-performance colour close up imager, on board the 2018 ExoMars Rover plays an important role in attaining the mission objectives: it is the equivalent of the hand lens that no geologist is without when undertaking field work. CLUPI is a powerful, highly integrated miniaturized (<700g) low-power robust imaging system, able to operate at very low temperatures (–120°C). CLUPI has a working distance from 10cm to infinite providing outstanding pictures with a color detector of 2652x1768. At 10cm, the resolution is 7 micrometer/pixel in color. The optical-mechanical interface is a smart assembly in titanium that can sustain a wide temperature range. The concept benefits from well-proven heritage: Proba, Rosetta, MarsExpress and Smart-1 missions… (In a typical field scenario, the geologist will use his/her eyes to make an overview of an area and the outcrops within it to determine sites of particular interest for more detailed study. In the ExoMars scenario, the PanCam wide angle cameras (WACS) will be used for this task. After having made a preliminary general evaluation, the geologist will approach a particular outcrop for closer observation of structures at the decimetre to subdecimeter scale (ExoMars’ High Resolution Camera) before finally getting very close up to the surface with a hand lens (ExoMars’ CLUPI), and/or taking a hand specimen, for detailed observation of textures and minerals. Using structural, textural and preliminary compositional analysis, the geologist identifies the materials and makes a decision as to whether they are of sufficient interest to be subsampled for laboratory analysis (using the ExoMars drill and laboratory instruments). Given the time and energy expense necessary for drilling and analyzing samples in the rover laboratory, preliminary screening of the materials to chose those most likely to be of interest is essential. ExoMars will be choosing the samples exactly as a field geologist does – by observation (backed up by years and years of field experience in rock interpretation in the field). Because the main science objective of ExoMars concerns the search for life, whose traces on Mars are likely to be cryptic, close up observation of the rocks and granular regolith will be critical to the decision as whether to drill and sample the nearby underlying materials. Thus, CLUPI is the essential final step in the choice of drill site. But not only are CLUPI’s observations of the rock outcrops important, but they also serve other purposes. CLUPI, could observe the placement of the drill head. It will also be able to observe the fines that come out of the drill hole, including any colour stratification linked to lithological changes with depth. Finally, CLUPI will provide detailed observation of the surface of the core drilled materials when they are in the sample drawer at a spatial resolution of 15 micrometer/pixel in color. The close-up imager CLUPI on the 2018 ExoMars Rover will be described together with its capabilities to provide important information significantly contributing to the understanding of the geological environment and could identify outstanding potential biofabrics (stromatolites...) of past life on Mars. CAD view of the Optics with Focus Mechanism of the Close-UP Imager “CLUPI” about 100mm long for 150g CTM08 sample volcanic rock. Image taken at Space Exploration Institute Science Validation Lab. using a camera with the same detector of CLUPI. Close-up view showing the high quality color level of the detector together with the high spatial resolution allowing the view of filamentous biofabrics.
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