The ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager at Gale crater: Review of the first year of operations on Mars

S. Le Mouélic; O. Gasnault; K. E. Herkenhoff; N. T. Bridges; Y. Langevin; N. Mangold; S. Maurice; R. C. Wiens; P. Pinet; H. E. Newsom; R. G. Deen; James Bell; J. R. Johnson; W. Rapin; B. Barraclough; D. L. Blaney; L. Deflores; J. Maki; M. C. Malin; R. Pérez; M. Saccoccio

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.030

The ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager at Gale crater: Review of the first year of operations on Mars

S. Le Mouélic, O. Gasnault, K. E. Herkenhoff, N. T. Bridges, Y. Langevin, N. Mangold, S. Maurice, R. C. Wiens, P. Pinet, H. E. Newsom, R. G. Deen, James Bell, J. R. Johnson, W. Rapin, B. Barraclough, D. L. Blaney, L. Deflores, J. Maki, M. C. Malin, R. PérezM. Saccoccio

Earth and Space Exploration, School of (SESE)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

93 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Mars Science Laboratory rover, "Curiosity" landed near the base of a 5. km-high mound of layered material in Gale crater. Mounted on the rover mast, the ChemCam instrument is designed to remotely determine the composition of soils and rocks located a few meters from the rover, using a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) coupled to a Remote Micro-Imager (RMI). We provide an overview of the diverse imaging investigations that were carried out by ChemCam's RMI during the first year of operation on Mars. 1182 individual panchromatic RMI images were acquired from Sol 10 to Sol 360 to document the ChemCam LIBS measurements and to characterize soils, rocks and rover hardware. We show several types of derived imaging products, including mosaics of images taken before and after laser shots, difference images to enhance the most subtle laser pits, merges with color Mastcam-100 images, micro-topography using the Z-stack technique, and time lapse movies. The very high spatial resolution of RMI is able to resolve rock textures at sub-mm scales, which provides clues regarding the origin (igneous versus sedimentary) of rocks, and to reveal information about their diagenetic and weathering evolution. In addition to its scientific value over the range accessible by LIBS (1-7. m), we also show that RMI can also serve as a powerful long distance reconnaissance tool to characterize the landscape at distances up to several kilometers from the rover.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	93-107
Number of pages	15
Journal	Icarus
Volume	249
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.030
State	Published - Mar 5 2015

Keywords

Data reduction techniques
Image processing
Mars
Mars, surface
Mineralogy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.030

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Le Mouélic, S., Gasnault, O., Herkenhoff, K. E., Bridges, N. T., Langevin, Y., Mangold, N., Maurice, S., Wiens, R. C., Pinet, P., Newsom, H. E., Deen, R. G., Bell, J., Johnson, J. R., Rapin, W., Barraclough, B., Blaney, D. L., Deflores, L., Maki, J., Malin, M. C., ... Saccoccio, M. (2015). The ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager at Gale crater: Review of the first year of operations on Mars. Icarus, 249, 93-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.030

Le Mouélic, S, Gasnault, O, Herkenhoff, KE, Bridges, NT, Langevin, Y, Mangold, N, Maurice, S, Wiens, RC, Pinet, P, Newsom, HE, Deen, RG, Bell, J, Johnson, JR, Rapin, W, Barraclough, B, Blaney, DL, Deflores, L, Maki, J, Malin, MC, Pérez, R & Saccoccio, M 2015, 'The ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager at Gale crater: Review of the first year of operations on Mars', Icarus, vol. 249, pp. 93-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.030

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title = "The ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager at Gale crater: Review of the first year of operations on Mars",

abstract = "The Mars Science Laboratory rover, {"}Curiosity{"} landed near the base of a 5. km-high mound of layered material in Gale crater. Mounted on the rover mast, the ChemCam instrument is designed to remotely determine the composition of soils and rocks located a few meters from the rover, using a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) coupled to a Remote Micro-Imager (RMI). We provide an overview of the diverse imaging investigations that were carried out by ChemCam's RMI during the first year of operation on Mars. 1182 individual panchromatic RMI images were acquired from Sol 10 to Sol 360 to document the ChemCam LIBS measurements and to characterize soils, rocks and rover hardware. We show several types of derived imaging products, including mosaics of images taken before and after laser shots, difference images to enhance the most subtle laser pits, merges with color Mastcam-100 images, micro-topography using the Z-stack technique, and time lapse movies. The very high spatial resolution of RMI is able to resolve rock textures at sub-mm scales, which provides clues regarding the origin (igneous versus sedimentary) of rocks, and to reveal information about their diagenetic and weathering evolution. In addition to its scientific value over the range accessible by LIBS (1-7. m), we also show that RMI can also serve as a powerful long distance reconnaissance tool to characterize the landscape at distances up to several kilometers from the rover.",

keywords = "Data reduction techniques, Image processing, Mars, Mars, surface, Mineralogy",

author = "{Le Mou{\'e}lic}, S. and O. Gasnault and Herkenhoff, {K. E.} and Bridges, {N. T.} and Y. Langevin and N. Mangold and S. Maurice and Wiens, {R. C.} and P. Pinet and Newsom, {H. E.} and Deen, {R. G.} and James Bell and Johnson, {J. R.} and W. Rapin and B. Barraclough and Blaney, {D. L.} and L. Deflores and J. Maki and Malin, {M. C.} and R. P{\'e}rez and M. Saccoccio",

note = "Funding Information: This research was carried out with funding from the Centre National d{\textquoteright}Etudes Spatiales (CNES). Work in the US was carried out under contract from NASA{\textquoteright}s Mars Program Office. The work of the JPL co-authors was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. We thank F. Calef, K. Edgett and also two anonymous reviewers for their very constructive remarks and inputs. The authors gratefully acknowledge JPL for developing, leading and operating this successful mission. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2014 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2015",

month = mar,

day = "5",

doi = "10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.030",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "249",

pages = "93--107",

journal = "Icarus",

issn = "0019-1035",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - The ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager at Gale crater

T2 - Review of the first year of operations on Mars

AU - Le Mouélic, S.

AU - Gasnault, O.

AU - Herkenhoff, K. E.

AU - Bridges, N. T.

AU - Langevin, Y.

AU - Mangold, N.

AU - Maurice, S.

AU - Wiens, R. C.

AU - Pinet, P.

AU - Newsom, H. E.

AU - Deen, R. G.

AU - Bell, James

AU - Johnson, J. R.

AU - Rapin, W.

AU - Barraclough, B.

AU - Blaney, D. L.

AU - Deflores, L.

AU - Maki, J.

AU - Malin, M. C.

AU - Pérez, R.

AU - Saccoccio, M.

N1 - Funding Information: This research was carried out with funding from the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES). Work in the US was carried out under contract from NASA’s Mars Program Office. The work of the JPL co-authors was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. We thank F. Calef, K. Edgett and also two anonymous reviewers for their very constructive remarks and inputs. The authors gratefully acknowledge JPL for developing, leading and operating this successful mission. Publisher Copyright: © 2014 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2015/3/5

Y1 - 2015/3/5

N2 - The Mars Science Laboratory rover, "Curiosity" landed near the base of a 5. km-high mound of layered material in Gale crater. Mounted on the rover mast, the ChemCam instrument is designed to remotely determine the composition of soils and rocks located a few meters from the rover, using a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) coupled to a Remote Micro-Imager (RMI). We provide an overview of the diverse imaging investigations that were carried out by ChemCam's RMI during the first year of operation on Mars. 1182 individual panchromatic RMI images were acquired from Sol 10 to Sol 360 to document the ChemCam LIBS measurements and to characterize soils, rocks and rover hardware. We show several types of derived imaging products, including mosaics of images taken before and after laser shots, difference images to enhance the most subtle laser pits, merges with color Mastcam-100 images, micro-topography using the Z-stack technique, and time lapse movies. The very high spatial resolution of RMI is able to resolve rock textures at sub-mm scales, which provides clues regarding the origin (igneous versus sedimentary) of rocks, and to reveal information about their diagenetic and weathering evolution. In addition to its scientific value over the range accessible by LIBS (1-7. m), we also show that RMI can also serve as a powerful long distance reconnaissance tool to characterize the landscape at distances up to several kilometers from the rover.

AB - The Mars Science Laboratory rover, "Curiosity" landed near the base of a 5. km-high mound of layered material in Gale crater. Mounted on the rover mast, the ChemCam instrument is designed to remotely determine the composition of soils and rocks located a few meters from the rover, using a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) coupled to a Remote Micro-Imager (RMI). We provide an overview of the diverse imaging investigations that were carried out by ChemCam's RMI during the first year of operation on Mars. 1182 individual panchromatic RMI images were acquired from Sol 10 to Sol 360 to document the ChemCam LIBS measurements and to characterize soils, rocks and rover hardware. We show several types of derived imaging products, including mosaics of images taken before and after laser shots, difference images to enhance the most subtle laser pits, merges with color Mastcam-100 images, micro-topography using the Z-stack technique, and time lapse movies. The very high spatial resolution of RMI is able to resolve rock textures at sub-mm scales, which provides clues regarding the origin (igneous versus sedimentary) of rocks, and to reveal information about their diagenetic and weathering evolution. In addition to its scientific value over the range accessible by LIBS (1-7. m), we also show that RMI can also serve as a powerful long distance reconnaissance tool to characterize the landscape at distances up to several kilometers from the rover.

KW - Data reduction techniques

KW - Image processing

KW - Mars

KW - Mars, surface

KW - Mineralogy

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DO - 10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.030

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SN - 0019-1035

VL - 249

SP - 93

EP - 107

JO - Icarus

JF - Icarus

ER -

The ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager at Gale crater: Review of the first year of operations on Mars

Abstract

Keywords

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