2023-05-12 16:09:55
One of the instruments on board the Rosalind Franklin rover of the European Space Agency (ESA), which will explore Mars within the ExoMars programme, is the Italian Ma_MISS (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies), created by Leonardo, with funding and coordination of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and scientific supervision of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF). The mission aims to answer one of the most fascinating questions ever faced by humanity: is there, or has there ever been, life on the red planet? Ma_MISS is a miniaturized fiber optic spectrometer, operating in the visible and near infrared wavelengths, mounted inside the drill of the rover that will drill the Martian soil, for the first time, up to a depth of two meters. Its main scientific objective is to reconstruct the geological evolution of Oxia Planum, one of the largest and oldest clayey plains on the planet, selected for landing and exploration by the Rosalind Franklin rover. To do this, Ma_MISS will study in situ the composition of the subsoil rocks and the optical and physical properties of the materials, such as the size of the grains. The tool will also contribute to the reconstruction of the vertical profiles of the drilling sites in order to define the geological processes that have characterized the study area, obtaining important information such as the mineralogy and the possible presence and distribution of water and ice in the subsoil. With this in mind, the performance of the instrument was initially tested only on geological samples for the characterization of inorganic material. Now a new study led by researchers from INAF, ASI and Aix Marseille University (France), has shown that Ma_MISS can play a fundamental role for even broader objectives that represent the main focus of the mission: research traces of life on Mars. The results are published in the journal Astrobiology.
“The Ma_MISS instrument will be the only one to actually operate in situ in the Martian subsurface, because the other spectrometer on board the rover (MicrOmega) will operate on the sample taken in depth after a grinding treatment, which modifies its original characteristics”, explains Marco Ferrari of INAF, first author of the work. “So we wondered if Ma_MISS could in some way give information not only mineralogical, but also relating to the presence of organic substances directly in the subsoil, i.e. before taking the sample, thus returning complete information of the unaltered subsoil. And the answer was yes: Ma_MISS’s data on the unaltered subsoil could be fundamental in choosing the depth of sampling for the mission. The possible detection of organic matter by Ma_MISS would therefore be crucial in the selection of the sample for a mission dedicated to the search for traces of past or present life in the Martian subsoil”. For this work, the team first conducted an initial study of the composition of Oxia Planum using data from previous missions: this allowed the preparation of a series of samples, starting from analogues of the composition of the Martian soil with the addition of organic substances in different quantities. In particular, the analogous Martian samples were enriched with glycine (the simplest of the amino acids); asphaltite (a naturally occurring form of asphalt, or bitumen); polyoxymethylene (a crystalline polymer); and benzoic acid (an aromatic compound found naturally in many plants). The researchers then obtained a spectrum of the different samples in the laboratory, using the laboratory model of the Ma_MISS instrument available at INAF in Rome, to then analyze and interpret the collected data.
“This research shows the potential of the Italian Ma_MISS instrument in the detection of organic substances in mineral samples” adds Maria Cristina De Sanctis, principal investigator of Ma_MISS and co-author of the new work. “Usually, through spectroscopy, organic substances are revealed around 3 microns. With Ma_MISS instead we tried to detect them in the range between 0.5 and 2.3 microns. As a result we have obtained that Ma_MISS is able to detect various organic substances within a mineral mixture when these are present up to the minimum quantity of 1% by weight”. Eleonora Ammannito, ASI Project Scientist of the Ma_MISS instrument and co-author of the study, adds: “Initially, the task of Ma_MISS was to provide a mineralogical context for the samples taken from the Martian soil and which would then be analyzed in the analytical laboratory present on the rover. With this study we have demonstrated that Ma_MISS can do much more, that is, it can do the direct identification of some types of organic material. This result demonstrates the centrality of the Ma_MISS instrument with respect to the primary objective of the Rosalind Franklin mission which is to find any traces of present or past life on the planet Mars”. Following the suspension and subsequent launch cancellation in March 2022, ESA is redefining the details of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission together with international and industrial partners, with new European elements. The departure is currently scheduled for 2028.
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