IMAGING OF MARS ANALOGUE MATERIALS USING THE BEAGLE 2 CAMERA SYSTEM

摘要

The reconstruction of the geological environment close to future Mars landing sites, particularly of Beagle 2, the lander of ESA's Mars Express mission, will heavily depend on the interpretation of optical images. Besides reconstructing the geological environment, close-up images of rocks will be used in the search for possible morphological signatures of past life (e.g. stromatolites, filamentous fabrics). We have started a study of Mars analogue materials using a Laboratory Stereo Camera System based on a camera system identical to flight model onboard Beagle 2 and a complete acquisition setup. Materials imaged include sedimentary, plutonic and volcanic rocks as well as impact-produced rocks (breccia, impact melt) and meteorites. Characteristic rock textures and some fossil microbial fabrics are well discernible in these images, especially when using the close-up lens, confirming that optical imaging using Beagle 2-type instrumentation will allow a much more detailed interpretation of the petrology of rocks than was possible during earlier missions. A routine leading to a standardized interpretation of the images is being developped. Additionally, we plan blind interpretation tests using images taken of unknown materials. This study is part of the characterization of Mars reference materials using instruments onboard Beagle 2.