Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports Volume 39 April 6, 2001

over mass of 2.55 kg it can accommodate four miniaturized scientific instruments with a mass of 1.1 kg in order to deploy and
operate the instruments in the vicinity of a stationary lander. An upscaled version of the same rover concept can be used for deep
drilling and sampling, as it is needed for example in future exobiology missions. This paper gives an overview of the Nanokhod
rover concepts and summarizes the development status as well as current and prospected activities.
Derived from text
Roving Vehicles; In Situ Measurement; Soil Sampling
20010023052 Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale, Rome, Italy
Mars Mineralogy
Bianchi, R., Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy; Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration; July 2000, Part 1, pp. 25;
In English; See also 20010023036; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A01, Hardcopy; A03, Microfiche
The study of surface and subsurface mineralogy of martian soil and rocks is the key for understanding the chemico-physical
processes that lead formation and evolution of the red planet. The water and other volatiles history, as well as weathering processes
are the signatures of present and past environmental conditions, associated to the possibility for life. Besides the detection of the
major chemical elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, Fe) to characterize the Martian sample petrography, the possibility to
retrieve information on chemical trace elements (K, Rb, Cs, Ba, SR, Ti, Zr, Rare Earths, U, Th) allows the identification of the
differentiation processes during the planet accretion as well as the geodynamical evolution of planetary layers and surface material
alteration.
Author
Mars (Planet); Mineralogy; Planetary Geology; Petrography
20010023053 Paris XI Univ., Inst. d’Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France
Global and High Resolution Surface Mineralogical Mapping: OMEGA/MarsExpress
Bibring, J -P., Paris XI Univ., France; Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration; July 2000, Part 1, pp. 26; In English; See
also 20010023036; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A01, Hardcopy; A03, Microfiche
Our understanding of the Mars evolution is strongly limited by the scarcity of information concerning its surface mineralogical
composition. Up to very recently, most of our global knowledge of the Mars history was derived from optical images, with
the addition of the Viking Lander - followed and confirmed by the Pathfinder-soil analyses, and, to some extent, by the laboratory
measurements performed on the presumed martian meteorites. The only assessments of the composition of geological units have
been produced by the pioneering ISM/Phobos spectral images, followed recently by the TES/MGS ones. In spite of their limited
spatial resolution, a few kilometers at best, they clearly demonstrate that the surface is not uniformly covered by the bright soil:
darker uncovered areas are present over the entire Mars Surface, exhibiting distinct variations in composition, with a variety of
silicates dominating the spectra. However, most key minerals have not been identified yet, as for potential carbonates for example,
most likely because of a too large spatial sampling. The purpose of the OMEGA investigation, on board the Mars Express ESA
mission, is to provide a global mineralogical mapping at a kilometer scale, with the capability of observing selected areas at a
sub-kilometer (down to 300 m) resolution, in any targeted area over the entire martian surface.
Author
Mars Surface; Planetary Mapping; Mineralogy; Mars Photographs
20010023054 Paris XI Univ., Inst. d’Astrophysique Aerospatiale, Orsay, France
Let Mars Sample Return be Launched in 2007!
Bibring, J -P., Paris XI Univ., France; Counil, J -L., Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, France; Sotin, C., Nantes Univ., France;
Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration; July 2000, Part 1, pp. 27; In English; See also 20010023036; No Copyright;
Avail: CASI; A01, Hardcopy; A03, Microfiche
The laboratory investigations performed on extraterrestrial samples (lunar, meteorites, micrometeorites) over the past
decades have demonstrated their unique capability of providing key data to understand the formation and early evolution of the
Solar System. With Mars, we deal with a planet having gone through all steps of planetary activity, to a much higher level than
underwent by the Moon and the small bodies, till its geological death, and without global resets: Mars has the potential to have
recorded all major events over the entire and complex planetary evolution, including those linked to the organic evolution towards
living organisms. Thus, the scientific outcomes of laboratory investigations on martian samples will serve a much wider community,
including geophysics and geochemistry, planetology and climatology, atmospheric science and biology. Today’s instrumental
tools already give access to most properties at a grain size, a few micrometers in dimension. Within this decade, more
sophisticated tools will still increase our capability of non destructive analyses (such as synchrotron X and IR coupled spectrome-
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