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Numerical simulations are required to thermophysically characterize Oxia Planum, the landing site of the mission ExoMars 2022. A drilling system is installed on the ExoMars rover, and it will be able to analyze down to 2 meters in the subsurface of Mars. The spectrometer Ma_MISS (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface, Coradini and Da Pieve, 2001) will investigate the lateral wall of the borehole generated by the drill, providing hyperspectral images. It is not fully clear if water ice can be found in the subsurface at Oxia Planum. However, Ma_MISS has the capability to characterize and map the presence of possible ices, in particular water ice. We performed simulations of the subsurface temperatures by varying the thermal inertia, and we quantified the effects of self-heating. Moreover, we quantified the heat released by the drilling operations, by exploring different frictional coefficients and angular drill velocities, in order to evaluate the lifetime of possible water ice.

Introduction. Oxia Planum is the selected landing site of the ExoMars mission [1]. A drilling system is installed on the ExoMars rover, able to analyze down two meters in the subsurface of Mars. Among the scientific objectives of the ExoMars mission, the searching of the organics or volatiles species plays an important role. The Ma_Miss spectrometer (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface) [2] will investigate the borehole generated by the drill and it will be able to characterize and map the presence of possible ices. In this work we developed a numerical model to predict the subsurface temperatures after the heat released by the drilling operations. The increase in temperature due to the drilling operations, in fact, could affect the survivor of the volatile species [3]. Here we report the results about subsurface temperature of Oxia Planum. Numerical modeling We developed a numerical modeling to predict the subsurface temperature of Oxia Planum. In the subsurface we solve the classical heat equation [3]: where ρ is the density, c p the specific heat, K the thermal conductivity and T the temperature. Heat transfer occurs only by conduction since convection is negligible due to the small temperature gradients involved as well as the characteristic size of the sample. At the top we imposed a radiation boundary condition. In order to take into account the heat released by the drilling operations we imposed a frictional heating flux on the sides “in contact” with the drill (the lateral sides of the borehole of Fig.1). This flux is defined by the equation [3]: where η is the coefficient of friction, Fn the thrust, ω the rotational velocity, r the radius of the hole and h the height of the domain of integration (in our case 50 cm). The parameters adopted in this work are F n = 300 N, rpm = 30 or 60, η = 0.3 or 0.9, tip density = 3500 kg m-3, tip thermal conductivity = 540 W m-1K-1, tip specific heat = 790 J kg-1K-1 and a drilling window of 90 min, characterized by 30 min in “on mode”, followed by 30 min in "off mode” and finally 30 min in “on mode”. The surface and subsurface of Oxia Planum is characterized by a thermal inertia of 650 TIU, with an initial temperature fixed to 200 K. Some assumptions are made: I) instantaneous drilling(drill excavation is not modeled); 2) constant thrust; 3) constant rotational velocity. Fig.1: Geometry adopted in this work. The borehole of the drilling system is represented by the cylinder embedded in this domain of integration, with a radius of 13 mm (the thickness of the drill tip). In Fig.2 we report an example of 1-D temperature profile at z=50 cm (the maximum depth of the borehole). In the x-axis we report the distance from the hole, where shadowed red rectangle identifies the drill (or equivalently the borehole). Top panel of Fig.2 is characterized by rpm=30 and η=0.3 while the bottom panel by rpm=30 and η = 0.9. From these plots we note a difference, in the maximum value after 90 minutes, of about 40 K in favour of the case with η=0.9. The increase in temperature due to the drilling operations, in case of η=0.9, respect the initial assumed value (200 K) is about 80 K. The initial value of 200 K is chosen since is close to the surface equilibrium temperature value for Mars. As in [4] we can calculate the lifetime of an ice spherical deposit of mass m0, with a radius equal to the radius of the drill tip. The relative loss of ice mass at time (t) after the deposit is raised the temperature T is: where t is the time expressed in seconds. In this equation, Г represent the water rate emission, rp the radius of the tip and рice the density of the ice. By using the maximum sublimation rate, we obtain in case of rpm = 30 and η=0.3 a loss of about 60% of the initial mass, while in case η=0.9 of the loss is complete. In Fig.2 we report an example of temperature internal profile after the heat released by the drilling operations. Both panels refer to rpm=30: top panel is characterized by η=0.3 while bottom panel by η=0.9. Summary and Conclusions. We simulated the heat released by the drilling operations in different case of friction (η) and rotatonal speed (rpm) of the drill. We observed that in case of η=0.3 the maximum temperature increase at a depth of 50 cm is about 55 K (with rpm=30) and about 75 K (with rpm=60), while in case of η=0.9, the maximum temperature increase becomes 90 K (with rpm=30) and 130 K (with rpm=60) [3]. We also calculated the sublimation rate and the lifetime of a hypothetical spherical ice-rich deposit, with a radius equal to the size of the tip of the drill. We obtained that, after 90 minutes from the start of our simulations, in the coldest scenario (η=0.3 and rpm=30) the remaining initial mass is about the 60%, while in the other scenarios we have a complete loss of the mass [3]. Future improvements in the numerical model (e.g. a complete treatment of the diffusion of volatiles) as well as validation with laboratory experiments will be made. Acknowledgments. This work is funded and supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) [Grant ASI-INAF n. 2017-48-H.0].References [1] Vago J.L. et al. 2017; [2] De Sanctis M.C. et al 2017; [3] Formisano M. et al. 2021; [4] Andreas E.L. 2007; [5] Coradini A. et al. 2001

Introduction We developed a simple model to simulate Ma_MISS data acquisition and visualization and to support the development of acquisition strategies. The Ma_MISS instrument Ma_MISS (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies) is the miniaturized VNIR spectrometer embedded in the drill system of the ExoMars rover[1]. Ma_MISS will perform spectral reflectance measurements inside holes drilled into the surface of Mars up to a depth of 2 m. It will characterize the mineralogy and stratigraphy of the borehole walls and will allow the in-situ study of the subsurface environment, before any samples are collected and extracted. Taking advantage of the finely controllable drill tool motion, Ma_MISS can map the borehole walls. In addition to single point acquisitions, Ma_MISS can also be programmed to acquire “Ring” and “Column” scans, where the spectrometric acquisitions are interleaved with step rotations or translations of the drill tool. Borehole stratigraphy model To easily simulate Ma_MISS surveys, we first developed a simple model of a borehole. As further described in [2], six different simulant samples were prepared. Reflectance spectra were acquired on each of the samples with DAVIS-MOT, the new Ma_MISS laboratory model[3]. The reflectance spectra of these samples are shown in Figure 1. Six different regions were drawn as polylines on a 2D projection of the cylindrical borehole walls. Out of the six simulants, a different one was assigned to each region. As shown in Figure 2, this model was made to represents a 250 mm deep section of a borehole, exhibiting a varied stratigraphy with 5 different layers and a vertical vein. Figure 1: Reflectance spectra of samples. Figure 2: Borehole stratigraphy model Survey simulation The borehole model can be used to quickly simulate a Ma_MISS survey. Once the acquisition strategy of the survey is defined, the coordinates of the points where spectrometric acquisitions are to be simulated are computed. Small random errors can be added to the coordinates to simulate the accuracy of the drill tool actuators and sensors. For each point of this set, we generate a spectrum that simulates the real acquisition. Each simulated spectrum is generated from the measured spectra of one of the six simulants, based on its region in the stratigraphy model, with the addition of random shifts, slopes, and noise to simulate out-of-focus acquisitions and instrumental noise. Development of acquisition strategies The simulated data can be used to develop acquisition strategies, aimed at maximizing the information gained while limiting the time required to complete a survey of a drilled borehole. The time required to complete the survey depends on both the spectrometer acquisition settings and the drill tool motion. For example, the duration of a drill movement depends on angular and vertical step sizes (hereafter referred to as Δθ and Δz respectively), with vertical translations generally taking longer than rotations. Multiple combination of these parameters can be tried out on the same stratigraphy model to evaluate which strategy can provide the best compromise between spatial resolution and time required. Simulated data examplesFor the 4th RSOWG (Rover Science Operations Working Group) Simulation, held in November 2021, we provided data from a simulated Ma_MISS acquisition survey. The simulated Ma_MISS survey (“survey A”) consisted of: -6 rings of 360 points each, with Δθ=1° and displaced vertically by Δz=50mm; -8 columns made up of 126 points each, taken with Δθ=45° and a vertical step of Δz=2mm.This amounts to a total of 3168 individual spectra. A view of the simulated data is shown in Figure 3 and Figure 5A. This acquisition strategy provides a high angular resolution in the rings with Δθ=1° (which can be useful to identify small vertical features or individual grains) and a good vertical resolution in the column with Δz=2mm (useful to reconstruct the stratigraphy of the subsurface). Another survey (“survey B”) that was simulated with the same model is shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5B-C. In this case the acquisition was made up of 35 rings of 72 points each, with Δθ=5° and Δz=6.25 mm, for a total of 2952 spectra. This strategy offers worse spatial resolution in both the vertical direction and along the circumference but can nonetheless provide a more regular overall view of the borehole stratigraphy. Figure 3: Simulated survey A Figure 4: Simulated survey B Data visualization In Figure 3 and 4, each dot represents a simulated spectrum. In this case the colour of each dot was computed from its spectrum such that it looks somewhat like it would appear to the human eye. The same colours were interpolated across the surface (with a scattered data bicubic interpolation method) to obtain views like those shown in Figure 5A-B. Other useful visualizations of these spectra can be obtained by highlighting other spectral features, e.g., band depths, band ratios or specific IR bands. An example is shown in Figure 5C, where the 1.95 µm band depth is computed on the simulated spectra of survey B and its value is interpolated across the cylindrical surface. Figure 5: Visualization of simulated data on the borehole surface Future work The developed simulation model can be easily extended to other borehole stratigraphy models, with different geometries and spectra. It will also be complemented with tools to estimate the time needed to perform each simulated survey, which will make it a useful tool for the optimization of acquisition strategies. The developed data visualization tools can also be used with real, measured data. We are planning to verify the simulated data on real surveys. In fact, we can perform a complete survey with the Ma_MISS laboratory breadboard on an actual drilled sample. The acquired data will be visualized and used to reconstruct the sample stratigraphy. Acknowledgments This work is supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) grant ASI-INAF n. 2017-412-H.0. References[1] De Sanctis M.C. et al. (2017): Astrobiology, 17, 6-7[2] Ferrari M. et al. (2022): LPSC53, Abstract#1339[3] De Angelis S. et al. (2022): LPSC53, Abstract#1796

Introduction: This study is focused on the investigation of the reflected solar light on planetary atmosphere-less bodies, as a function of the viewing geometry (direction of the solar light and direction of the ob-server with respect to the normal to the surface, identifying angles named respectively incidence and emission, and the relative angle between them, named phase). In particular, we focus on the photometric properties of large-scale roughness (hereafter referred to as roughness), which, being not spatially resolved, can be only derived by photometric models. The investigation of the photometric response as a function of roughness is mandatory to disentangle properties of the surface regolith such as albedo, porosity, and thermal inertia (the latter when thermal emission data are avail-able). Moreover, the information on the roughness can be important by itself for interpretation of the geological and physical processes in place, or for engineering use in a case of a landing site selection. Photometric Models: Among the interpretative physically-based models describing the reflection of the light from surfaces, Hapke [1] theory is among the most used in literature, thanks to its completeness in the description of the surface, and the practicality of use, being an analytical model. According to Hapke, a rough surface can be described as a collection of facets, each with a certain slope (θ), in a way that the distribution of slopes is completely identified by a unique parameter (the Mean Slope θ). Random Gaussian and fractal terrains are well-represented by the slope distribution described by Hapke’s theory. This is the case with several minor bodies, targets of recent space missions (e.g., [2]). Hapke developed an analytic formulation to include the effect of the roughness into a general relation describing the reflectance of planetary surfaces, which is a function of several photometric parameters. However, some authors, including Hapke himself, have high-lighted some limitations of this formulation: (i) the parameter that describes roughness is derived in theory only for small angles of the slope of the facets relative to the average surface. This prevents reliable derivation of roughness for more general conditions [1]; (ii) unresolved shadows and self-illumination can affect the overall reflected signal, and if not accurately modeled, can be confused with albedo variation (e.g., [3]). In Hapke’s theory, the dependence of these contributions on observation geometry is treated by means of simpli-fied approximations. An improved approach to the study of rough surfaces has been proposed to overcome the above issues [4]. It consists of a statistical approach in which N unresolved facets, each one having its own viewing geometry, are generated. The integrated resulting signal corresponding to these facets is calculated starting from the response of all facets visible to the observer. This statistical-multi-facets algorithm (SMFA) also takes into account the self-illumination and shadows projected along the observer's line of sight, so that the photometric response is not calculated through analytical ap-proximations, but with the sum of each of the N facets that describe the simulated terrain (see Fig. 1). Roughness retrieval: We investigate the properties of spatially resolved roughness of the dwarf planet Ceres and comet 67P from their shape models, derived by Dawn/NASA and Rosetta/ESA data. From this, we infer the possibility to safely apply the above-mentioned models for retrieval of non-resolved roughness. The latter is performed by the comparison of signals of the surface detected in different viewing geometries. We discuss results coming from both Hapke model and the statistical multi-facets algorithm. Figure 1. An example of the different output between SMFA and Hapke’s models: S = shadowing function, µ0eff = effective incidence angle cosine, µeff = effective emission angle cosine. All these parameters are used by the Hapke formulation, and they are functions of the Mean Slope (θ) parameter. In this example, the incidence, emission, and phase angles are fixed respectively to 30°, 0°, 30° [4]. References: [1] Hapke, Theory of Reflectance and Emittance Spectroscopy, 1993 [2] Davidsson et al., Icarus, 252, 2015 [3] Cuzzi et al., Icarus, 289, 2017 [4] Raponi et al., 14th EPSC 2020, id. EPSC2020-761

Introduction: Despite the large amount of information from orbital and in situ missions, the characteristics and evolution of Mars’ early climate are still widely debated among the scientific community. Morphological evidence dating back to about 3-4 billion years ago, such as valley networks [1], and the presence of several hydrated minerals [2] seem to indicate that Mars once had a “warm and wet” climate with abundant water on the surface and possibly even an ocean in the northern lowlands [1-3]. These conditions eventually changed through time leading up to the hyperarid and cold planet we observe today. The area of Meridiani Planum (MP), located SW of Arabia Terra, is well known for retaining multiple evidence of past aqueous activity [4] and a varied hydrated mineralogy [5]. The majority of the terrains exposed in MP formed at the Noachian-Hesperian boundary [6], that is between two important epochs of Mars: the Noachian (4.1-3.7 Ga), where most of the evidence for water is found, and the Hesperian (3.7-3.0 Ga), which is characterized by increasingly water-limited conditions. Constraining the potential water environment at the NH boundary is fundamental to understand Mars’ early climate and its evolution. In this study, we select 7 craters in Northern MP (figure 1) showing evidence of NH sediment infillings with hydrated materials (e.g., clays and sulfates) to assess in detail the stratigraphic sequence of the mineralogical units and understand their origin and diagenetic history. The craters are roughly aligned SE to NW following the general slope of the area from the highlands to the lowlands. If Mars experienced a “warm and wet” period, MP would represent a transition zone between the subaerial alteration environment of the highlands and the subaqueous environment of the Martian ocean. Therefore, the area would be easily affected by climatic changes whose evidence should be retained in its sedimentary sequences. We show here some preliminary results from 2 out of the 7 craters selected for the study: 1) a 15-km-wide crater named Mikumi, centered at Lat. 2.45°N, Lon. 359.96°E; 2) an 18-km-wide unnamed crater centered at Lat. 4.25°N, Lon. 2.85°E. Figure 1: THEMIS daytime image of Meridiani Planum. Selected craters are evidenced with points. Name (if given) and coordinates of the center for each crater are also indicated with a label. Most of the craters are unnamed. The arrows indicate the two craters described in this abstract. Datasets and methods: We investigate the mineralogy of the craters’ terrains through CRISM [7] hyperspectral data cubes mainly in the range 1.0-2.6 μm. This interval retains part of the key spectral features of primary rock-forming minerals, which constitute the Martian crust, and of most minerals produced by secondary processes such as aqueous circulation and alteration (e.g., clays and sulfates). MOLA, THEMIS, CTX and HiRISE data are then used for morpho-stratigraphy and camera imaging. Results: Two types of clays (smectites) with different Fe/Mg content, polyhydrated sulfates and monohydrated sulfates are observed in both craters (figure 2). Fe/Mg-clay spectra (e.g., nontronite and saponite) show absorptions at around 1.4, 1.9 and 2.3 μm with additional overtones at 2.4 μm. The exact position of the 2.3 μm feature depends on the relative Fe/Mg content in the clay mineral. We find some areas with clays richer in iron (e.g., nontronite), showing this feature centered at 2.305 μm, and clays richer in magnesium (e.g., saponite) where the absorption is centered at 2.310-2.315 μm. In Mikumi crater, polyhydrated sulfates (Mg sulfate) and monohydrated sulfates (kieserite) are detected stratigraphically below the clay-bearing layer. For the unnamed crater, the stratigraphic relationship of the units is still to be investigated. Figure 2: (top) CRISM spectra of detected mineralogy. Fe/Mg clays (smectites) are from Mikumi crater, mono and polyhydrated sulfates are from the Unnamed crater. The spectra are extracted from FRT0000BEF5 and FRT00009B5A TRR datasets respectively. (bottom) Laboratory spectra of clays and sulfates from the CRISM spectral library [8] (Mg Sulfate ID: CJB366; Kieserite ID: F1CC15; Saponite ID: LASA51; Nontronite ID: NCJB26). Discussion and conclusions: Clays and sulfates on Mars appear to have formed at different times and under different climatic conditions [9]. Clays are usually associated to Noachian terrains and may have formed under alkaline conditions in a “warm and wet” ancient Mars, whereas sulfates are typically associated to Hesperian surfaces and may have formed under a dryer and more acidic environment. Therefore, sulfates are expected to be found stratigraphically on top of clays, as they should have formed later in Mars’ history. However, this distinction between a clay-rich Noachian and a sulfate-rich Hesperian oversimplifies the history of the aqueous chemistry and climate of Mars especially near the NH boundary. Our analysis suggests a stratigraphic sequence with interleaving clays and sulfates at the NH boundary. Similar stratigraphic sequences have also been observed in other areas of MP (Southern MP) by [5]. In the case of [5], a clay-bearing layer is overlain by other sulfates, generating a sulfate/clay/sulfate stratigraphic sequence. All this argues is in favor of several distinct climatic episodes pacing the NH climatic transition. The results obtained so far will be enriched by further analysis of these areas along with a thorough investigation of the remaining 5 craters selected. Acknowledgments: Featured CRISM data were downloaded from the Planetary Data System (PDS). This project is partially supported by Europlanet RI20-24 GMAP project. References: [1] M. H. Carr and J. W. Head (2010) Earth and Planet. Sci. Lett., 293, 185-203. [2] B. L. Ehlmann and C. S. Edwards (2014) Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 42, 291-315. [3] R. A. Craddock and A. D. Howard (2002) JGR, 107 (E11), 5111. [4] R. M. E. Williams et al. (2017) GRL, 44, 1669-1678. [5] J. Flahaut et al. (2015) Icarus, 248, 269-288. [6] B. M. Hynek et al. (2002) JGR, 107 (E10), 5088. [7] S. Murchie et al. (2007) JGR, 112 (E5), E05S03. [8] C. E. Viviano-Beck et al. (2015) MRO CRISM Type Spectra Library, NASA Planetary Data System. https://crismtypespectra.rsl.wustl.edu [9] J. P. Bibring et al. (2006) Science, 312, 400-404.

Introduction: ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin will search for traces of past or present life potentially preserved in the designated landing site Oxia Planum [1]. Oxia is located in the western part of Arabia Terra, where geology shows evidence of a past long-lived liquid water body [2]. This clay-bearing plain is overlapped by deltaic system material provided by channels of Coogoon Valles. Spectral detections underlie the possible presence of Fe-rich phyllosilicate (for example vermiculite) and Mg-rich phyllosilicate (for example saponite) mixed with a variable amount of olivine. A mafic coating-resistant unit seems to be present [3,4,5]. Many minerals are expected to be analyzed by the Ma_MISS (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies) instrument at the landing site. The drill is also made up of three extensible 50 cm-long rods. The instrument is a VNIR (0.4–2.3 µm) miniaturized spectrometer in-stalled into the rover drill’s tip. It will acquire borehole spectral images in situ to study the subsurface mineralogy up to 2 m depth with a spatial resolution of 120 µm for looking at organics traces. Ma_MISS is composed of the Optical Head with fibres into the tip and the other fibres in the rods, while the spectrometer and the electronic are outside on the drill box. The sapphire window in the main rod allows the 5W light to illuminate inside the borehole and the reflected signal to be acquired by the spectrometer. The light illuminates a 1 mm diameter spot at ~0.6 mm focal distance. Thanks to drill rotation and vertical movement, Ma_MISS can collect several points to reconstruct a complete borehole image [1]. Laboratory breadboard: Drill for Analogues and Visible-Infrared Spectrometer (DAVIS) is the recent laboratory setup consisting of Laboratory Drill (DAVIS-LD) and Ma_MISS Optical Tool (DAVIS-MOT) (Figure 1). The first one (LD) is the replica of the rover drill except for the spectral acquisition system. The vertical motion is actuated by a hand lever to drill a hole in the rock samples. The motor unit is the same as the flight model but the controller is a commercial EC motor, which control the rotational speed (50 rpm) [6]. The second one (MOT) comprises a 75 cm-long and 25.4 mm-diameter rod, 5W lamp, Sapphire window, Optical Head, and an optical fibre. It is the copy of rover Ma_MISS except for the drilling ability. In this case, rover spectrometer is replaced with two Avantes VIS-NIR spectrometers. The Optical Head fibre is connected with the Avantes fibre through a mini-Avim connector. Being a replica of Ma_MISS, the light spot has 1 mm diameter at ~0.6 mm focal distance and the spatial resolution is 120 µm. It acquire in two different configurations: 1) Slab or powder samples are hosted in a vertical three-axis sample-holder and 2) manual motion of the rod to enter in the sample borehole [7]. Figure 1 – a) Ma_MISS Optical Tool (DAVIS-MOT) and b) Laboratory Drill (DAVIS-LD). Martian Analogue sample: The Martian analogue denominated CAP-1 was collected during a geological survey of the Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (IAPS), in October 2021. It was gathered in 120 cm-depth excavated trench in the area of Capalbio (Tuscany, Italy). It is a Pleistocene metasedimentary rock subjected to hydrothermal alteration/weathering (Figure 2). This brownish siltstone/mudstone is a quite compact rock in dry conditions and brittle in wet conditions. Inside it, there are a few discoidal, sub-angular grains with a diameter higher than 2 mm and different colors (black, reddish, and white), and low sphericity. Grains are not-oriented, except for black Manganese aggregates, which form thin veins with a diameter of about 2-5 mm. Other grains are white rectangular precipitations of Al-bearing clay (kaolinite) and reddish irregular aggregates formed by iron oxide (hematite). The brownish fine-grained (granulometry in the order of silt-clay) matrix has medium porosity, without cement. It lacks stratification and it shows possible alteration due to iron oxidation. CAP-1 is well-sorted, texturally and compositionally mature. The mineral assemblage of the CAP-1 sample is constituted of Mg/Fe smectite, kaolinite, illite, quartz, and minor calcite. It can contain some part of organic material based on analysis of similar soil in the area, but no detectable fossil evidence is found inside. Figure 2 – a) Outcrop where CAP-1 is extracted (sampling depth 30-75 cm); b) Sample Capalbio CAP-1; c) Details of CAP-1 taken under a microscope: Mn aggregates. Discussion and conclusions: Some preliminary acquisitions are taken using the DAVIS-MOT, as we can see in Figure 3. We acquire 3 random points on a planar surface of the sample. After that, raw data of spectra are smoothed and merged between 1075 and 1140 nm (the AVANTES spectrometer has two different detectors and the acquisitions are made for the VIS and IR in two steps). Resampling is done in 364 points between 400 and 2300 nm. Spectra show characteristic absorption bands of water at 1.4 and 1.9 µm, well-shaped absorption bands at 0.95 and 2.2 µm associated with iron transition and Al-OH bond respectively. A deep spectral analysis will be done after the new laboratory acquisition of this sample. Figure 3 – VIS-NIR CAP-1 spectra acquired by DAVIS-MOT. Acknowledgments: This work is supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) grant ASI-INAF n. 2017-412-H.0. Ma_MISS is funded by ASI and INAF. References: [1] De Sanctis, M. C. et al. (2017) Astrobiology, 17(6–7), doi: 10.1089/ast.2016.1541; [2] Davis, J. M. et al. (2016) Geology, 44(10), doi: 10.1130/G38247.1; [3] Quantin-Nataf, C. et al. (2021) Astrobiology, 21(3), doi: 10.1089/ast.2019.2191; [4] Mandon, L. et al. (2021) Astrobiology, 21(4), doi: 10.1089/ast.2020.2292; [5] Brossier, J. (2022) Icarus, accepted pending revisions; [6] Rossi, L. et al. (2022) LPSC 53, Abstract #1353, [7] De Angelis, S et al. (2022) LPSC 53, Abstract #1796.

In this work, we apply a method previously discussed in [1] to assess the presence of water ice in Mercury’s Polar Shadowed Regions (PSR) mixed to S-rich volatile species like SO2, H2S, and volatile organics, intending to verify their detectability from Bepi Colombo’s orbit and to optimize SIMBIO-SYS/VIHI observations. PSR icy deposits located within the floor of the Kandinsky crater are simulated in terms of I/F spectra corresponding to mixtures of H2O-H2S and H2O-SO2 with grain sizes of 10, 100, and 1000 µm as resulting from indirect illumination by the scattered solar light coming from the crater’s rim. The spectral simulations, performed following the method described in [2], and including the ice-regolith mixing (areal or intimate) as modeled in [3], allow for exploring different volatile species abundances and grain size distribution.The resulting ice detection threshold are evaluated by means of the computation of VIHI’s instrumental signal-to-noise ratio as given by the instrumental radiometric model [4]. In this way, a synergistic use of illumination models, spectral simulations and resulting SNR calculations will help us to optimize the VIHI’s observation strategy across Mercury’s polar regions with the aim to detect, identify and map volatile species. This task is one of the primary scientific goals of the 0.4-2.0 µm Visible and Infrared Hyperspectral Imager (VIHI) [5], one of the three optical channels of the SIMBIO-SYS experiment [6] on ESA’s BepiColombo mission.Due to orbital characteristics and proximity to the Sun, Mercury’s polar regions undergo large variations in illumination conditions during the hermean year [1]. At poles, Permanent Shadowed Regions (PSRs) occur on deep craters and rough morphology terrains that are not directly illuminated by the Sun during the hermean day. Nevertheless, some of these areas could experience partial illumination caused by multiple scattered light coming from nearby illuminated areas. Despite the orbital vicinity to the Sun, Mercury’s PSRs can maintain cryogenic temperatures across geological timescales resulting in the condensation and accumulation of volatile species [7]. While water ice is the more certain species in Mercury’s PSR, it is not precluded the occurrence of other secondary species rich in sulfur or even organic matter.In fact, the total surface area of PSRs between latitudes 80−90° south is not negligible, being estimated at about 25.000 km2 [8], about two times larger than the same geographic area on the North Pole [9]. References: [1] Filacchione G. et al., MNRAS, 498, 1308-1318, 2020. [2] Raponi A. et al., Sci. Adv., 4, eaao3757, 2018. [3] Ciarniello. M. et al., Icarus, 214, 541, 2011. [4] Filacchione G. et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum., 88, 094502, 2017. [5] Capaccioni F. et al., IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 48, 3932, 2010. [6] Cremonese G. et al., Space Sci. Rev., 216, 75, 2020. [7] Paige D. A. et al., Science, 339, 300, 2013. [8] Chabot N. L. et al., J. Geophys. Res., 123, 666, 2018. [9] Deutsch A. N. et al., Icarus, 280, 158, 2016. Acknowledgments: We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) under ASI-INAF agreement 2017- 47-H.0.

Introduction: The comprehension and interpretation of VIS-IR spectra from space missions to Solar System rocky bodies is generally based on the qualitative/quantitative comparison with standard laboratory datasets [1,2,3,4], i.e. spectra often acquired in laboratory at room pressure/temperature, so dominated by water bands [5]. We developed the new laboratory setup CAPSULA (Chamber for Analogues of Planetary Surfaces Laboratory), consisting of an environmental chamber equipped with a FTIR spectrometer to acquire spectra of planetary analogues in various conditions. The chamber allows to obtain (i) high vacuum (-6 mb); (ii) high (>1000K) and cryogenic T (Setup description: The CAPSULA setup is hosted at INAF-IAPS C-Lab laboratory (fig.1). It is constituted by (i) a Bruker Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, equipped with an MCT and DLaTGS detectors and (ii) a large high vacuum chamber 50x60 cm, in which the samples to be analyzed are placed. The chamber and the spectrometer are coupled by means of optical fiber bundles, each composed by seven 200/260-mm core/cladding fibers. Although the FTIR detectors are sensitive up to 20 µm, currently the fibers, in Indium Fluoride Glass, allow the signal to be transmitted in the 0.35-5.5 µm range. The illumination spot on the sample (at angle of 30°) and the collection spot (at 0°) are 3N4 heaters, placed just below copper sampleholders cups, allows to heat samples up to 1073K in high vacuum. A liquid He compressor connected to a cold head within the chamber permits to cool down the samples at cryogenic temperatures below 80K.Preliminary tests and measurements: As preliminary activity the optical fibers have been extensively characterized in the laboratory in terms of spectral transmission, in the 0.35-5.5-µm range, resulting in an average transmission of at least 80% for each fiber.With the aim of starting to test the setup, preliminary spectral measurements have been performed on a powder sample of ammoniated montmorillonite (NH4-SCa3) [6,7] (fig.2). The sample, in the form of 1 µm) and NIR source spectrum cut-off (3 mbar), then at 5, 4, 3 mbar and down to 10-6 mbar. Each spectrum (both reference and sample) is acquired by doing 512 scans with the FTIR interferometer, which takes about 2’. During this time the pressure changed very slowly, i.e. by less than 5%. It can be seen how dehydration proceeds during the pumping, as seen by the decrease of H2O bands at 1.5, 2 and 3 µm. Correspondingly absorption features due to NH4+ become clearly visible (1.55, 2.1-2.2, 3.1 and 3.25 µm) (fig.3). Future work:We are currently testing the different subsystems of the setup (cooling/heating system) and working on several upgrades of the experimental system, including the extension of the spectral range in the mid-IR (above 5 µm) through the use of mirrors. We are in parallel starting to carry out scientific measurements on analogues of different planetary rocky objects (Mars, Ceres) with the current setup.References: [1] De Sanctis M.C. et al. (2015), Nature Letter 528, 241-244. [2] Elkins-Tanton L.T., et al.: (2016) XLVII LPSC, abstract #1631. [3] Hamilton V.E., et al. (2019) Nature Astronomy. [4] Kitazato K., et al. (2019), Science, 364, 272-275. [5] Beck P., et al. (2018) Icarus 313, 124–138. [6] Ferrari M., et al. (2019) Icarus. [7] De Angelis S., et al. (2021), JGR:Planets, V.126, Is.5, e2020JE006696.Acknowledgements: The CAPSULA project has been funded in the framework of ASI-INAF Announcement of Opportunity in 2018 for Solar System studies, with a two years grant. We acknowledge financial contribution from the Agreement ASI-INAF n.2018-16-HH.0.

The ExoMars rover mission will be looking for biosignatures (i.e. signs of past and present life) in Oxia Planum, Mars [1]. The landing site is located between 16° and 19° N and 334° to 337° E where the ancient cratered terrains transition into the low-lying plains of Chryse Planitia. The area of interest is situated between Ares Vallis and Marwth Vallis in a wide basin at the outlet of Cogoon Vallis. The fractures, extensively spread over the terrains of the landing site, range from meters to decameters in spacing and length and have been preliminary interpreted as desiccation cracks or the result of burial and unloading of sediments [2,3]. We mapped these fractured terrains and we tested an automatic method for alignment tracing which contributes to our study in an effort to evaluate the directional aspects of fracturing and their spatial distribution within the study area. The data we used come from VNIR pushbroom imager camera HiRISE, which produces the highest resolution images of the martian surface (25 to 60 cm/pixel) [4]. 31 greyscale HiRISE RED products (25 cm/pixels) and three HiRISE colour product (60 cm/pixel) covering the landing ellipse were selected and downloaded from the Planetary Data System (PDS) [5], and imported into QGIS (version 3.24.1 Tisler) [6]. To map these fractures over a submeter resolution basemap within the ≥1000 km2 landing ellipse area, we opted to use a 1:5000 scale. We mapped the boundaries of the fractured area as lines, generating category areas from the boundaries of the mapped area through the Mappy QGIS plugin [7]. We classified the fractures by their association with sand, dunes, TARs and ridges. Using the resulting map of the fractured terrains, we placed a 200 m2 Scan Area on a place where fracturing was more evident: we extracted HiRISE data that was input into the Slope Intersect Discrete Analysis (SID) software version 3.04-10 for automatic tracing of the fractures. The results of automatic tracing, whose algorithm is based on a modified Hugh transform [8], was further processed in to GRASS GIS [9]: the GRASS Toolset v.clean was used to snap vertices of SID output. To compare the manual and automatic methods, the Scan Area input by SID has been used to manually trace fractures at 1:1000 scale, whose orientation in the space was obtained using Daisy software version 3-5.51-3. The map of the fractured terrains was then used to place multiple Scan Areas where fracturing is more evident (Fig.2). The automatic fracture tracing method will be applied on other areas of interest in future studies. We classified fractured terrains into three categories where we placed 28 Scan Areas (Fig.1) : we placed nine of them in terrains characterized mainly by fractures (MF, lower portion of the map), 10 in terrains associated with the presence of linear topographic rises (ridges) (RF, central portion of the map) and nine in fractured terrains with an abundance of sand and dunes (SF, upper portion of the map). 507 fractures were traced manually ranging 1.14-68.4 m in length (Fig.2, b). In the automatic method, SID mapped 1712 elements between 2 and 21 m in length (Fig.2, a). Regarding the directional Azimuth-Frequency analysis carried out by Daisy, the average orientation is very similar: fractures traced manually indicate a value of 92.26° (sd: 12.5°) and fractures traced via SID correspond to a value of 93.06° (sd: 15.97°) (Fig.2, a, b below). The spatial distribution of fractures traced manually is homogeneous, including both the longest and the shortest fractures. The few areas where the absence of fractures is observed are those where there is a strong cover of sand. The longer fractures do not create intersections, if not with the shorter ones, which cross each other, forming small networks. The homogeneous distribution of manually traced fractures is the same as those traced unsupervised via SID. The differences instead occur mainly in the number and in the length of lines traced in the two methods: SID’s sensitivity to low variations of DN result in a greater number of identified fractures through segments with a defined minimum and maximum length. However, not all manually traced fractures have been identified by SID. No matter how efficient the GRASS GIS toolset is, fractures traced by SID too far apart from eachother were not considered a single element, which the human interpretation would have done. As far as orientation is concerned, the two methods show very similar values. This study shows how, although the clear differences between manually and automatic method, the latter may prove to be efficient, even considering their limitations. SID’s fracture tracing in fact guarantees a strong effectiveness for the calculation of their orientations. Further analysis in the Scan Areas placed on the fractured terrains of the landing ellipse will verify whether or not there are anisotropies in the orientation of the fractures, which will help improve our knowledge about the formation and evolution of Oxia Planum. References [1] Vago et al.(2017), Astrobiology, Vol. 17, No. 6-7. [2] Quantin-Nataf et al. (2021) Astrobiology 21, 345. [3] Bowen et al. (2022) Planetary and Space Science Volume 2014. [4] McEwen et al. (2007) Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets Volume 112, [5] McMahon (1995) Planetary and Space Science Volume 44 [6] Casagrande et al., (2014) Dario Flaccovio Editore p. 220 [7] Penasa et al. (2020) European Planetary Science Congress, Volume 14 [8] Hough (1959) HEACC, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on High-Energy Accelerators and Instrumentation [9] Neteler and Mitasova (2013) The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science Figure 1 – Fractured terrains mapping and Scan Area locations within the ExoMars landing ellipse. Geospatial data is in simple cylindrical projection, considering Mars Sphere (IAU2018:49910). Figure 2 - Comparison between automatic (a) and manual tracing (b). The tables show results of the directional analysis effectuated by Daisy.

Introduction: Mars is a primary destination to search for signs of life and probing the subsurface is a key element in this search. Access to the Martian subsurface, under most altered layers, is needed to understand the nature, timing and duration of alteration and sedimentation processes on Mars, as well as habitability conditions. For such a reason, ExoMars rover mission includes a drill to collect subsurface samples and has a complex payload able to conduct detailed investigations of composition, search for organics, and recognize indicators of past or extant life[1]. The drill is a critical element of the mission which will explore and collect samples down to 2 m of depth. An essential part of the payload is Ma_MISS (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies) experiment hosted by the drill system[2,3]. Ma_MISS is a Visible and Near Infrared miniaturized spectrometer with an optical head inside the drill tip capable of observing the borehole from where samples are collected.Ma_MISS instrument description: Ma_MISS miniaturized spectrometer is hosted inside the drill system of the ExoMars rover and will characterize the mineralogy and stratigraphy of the excavated borehole wall at different depths (up to 2 m). Figure 1 – Schematic view of Ma_MISS instrument Ma_MISS is a modular instrument, and it consists of two main parts: (i) the spectrometer with the PE located outside of the drilling tool, and (ii) the Optical Head (OH) and fibers located inside the drill itself (Fig.1). The Drill consists of a main rod and three additional rods to reach a maximum depth of 2 m. The drill tip also has the Ma_MISS OH with a sapphire window to observe the borehole wall. All the rods are equipped with optical fibers to transmit light and signal. Ma_MISS is equipped with a light source of 5W and the illumination spot is about 1 mm at a focal distance of about 0.6 mm. The reflected light is collected through a 120 μm spot. The spectrometer observes a single point on the borehole wall and, using the drill movements, can build up images of the target. By combining several column and ring observations, Ma_MISS allows the reconstruction of a complete image of the borehole wall (Fig.2). Ma_MISS spectral characteristics and fine spatial resolution enable the in situ investigation of rocks, prior the sample collection, that will be manipulated and crushed for further analysis by the analytical laboratory. Thus, Ma_MISS is the instrument that will closely investigate the mineralogical characteristics of Mars subsurface material in its original geologic context. Figure 2 – Schematic representation of the Ma_MISS acquisition modes on the borehole wall. The image of the borehole is adapted from https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17594. What mineralogy is expected in the subsurface ? Ma_MISS will investigate deeper into the subsurface than prior rover missions. Viking and Phoenix landers scooped materials from the upper few centimeters for compositional analysis. The MER excavated trenches up to 11 cm deep[4] and collected data with the alpha-particle x-ray spectrometer and Mossbauer instruments. The MERs [5] grounded up to 9 mm deep and revealed coatings enriched in S, Cl, Zn and Ni and iron oxides on outer rock surfaces. The MER data from the subsurface show that those soils had high ferric sulfate contents or silica contents, likely signaling an influence from volcanic or hydrothermal processes[6,7]. Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) drilled several holes into the Martian surface demostraing differences between the surface and the subsurface, as shown in the colors of the excavated fines, mainly linked with the oxidation state of the materials[8]. Most interesting is the fact that well preserved organic material was discovered at Pahrump Hills , even with the very harsh surface conditions, suggesting even better preservation may be possible farther beneath the Martian surface[9].Differently from the previous missions, the drill and Ma_MISS measurements will be the deepest compositional measurements made on Mars. Ma_MISS is able to detect compositional gradients with depth, changes in type and abundance of minerals, weathering fronts or rinds, and diagenetic veins or nodules. The spectral range of Ma_MISS is optimal to detect changes in the occurrence and crystal chemistry of olivines and pyroxenes as well as Fe(II)/Fe(III) in silicates, oxides, and salts. There may be changes in these redox sensitive minerals with depth that record different environments. Furthermore, changes in the hydration state of materials can be also detected. For Oxia, the study of the subsurface could provide information on depositional regimes in zones not too far from the delta deposits, using the granulometric variation with dept.This will help to reconstruct the paleoenvironments that have characterized Oxia Planum.In addition, at sufficient concentrations, organic molecules will also be detectable [10]: depending on the kind of organic, Ma_MISSis capable to detect their presence even when a 1 wt.% in the mixture, as verified by specific tests in the laboratory using the Ma_MISS breadboard. Spectroscopic measurements on these mineral/organic mixtures are useful to understand how the Ma_MISS instrument can detect traces of organic intimately mixed with minerals. Conclusion: Ma_MISS will reconstruct the 3-D images of the borehole excavated by the ExoMars drill and will acquire spectra of the subsurface layers from which the sample will be collected. The calibration and tests performed with the flight model demonstrate the ability of the instrument in detecting most of the spectral signatures expected in Martian subsurface, including those due to the presence of possible salts and organics.Acknowledgments. This work is fully funded and supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) [Grant ASI-INAF n. 2017-48-H.0].References. [1] Vago et al. (2017) Astrobiology 17, 471–510. [2] De Sanctis, M. C. et al. (2017) Astrobiology, 17(6–7). [3] De Sanctis et al. (2022) PSJ in press. [4] Sullivan, R., et al.. (2011), J. Geophys. Res., 116, E02006; [5] Gorevan et al., (2003), J. Geophys. Res., 108, 8068; [6] Gellert, R and Yen, A.S, (2019) Remote Compositional Analysis, 10.1017/9781316888872, (555-572); [7] Morris et al., (2019), Remote Compositional Analysis, 10.1017/9781316888872, (538-554); [8] Abbey et al., (2020), Icarus, /doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113885. [9] Eigenbrode et al., 2018, Science, doi/10.1126/science.aas9185, [10] Ferrari et al., 2022. In preparation.

Introduction. ExoMars rover mission is planned to deliver the ‘Rosalind Franklin’ rover to explore Oxia Planum, a region that straddles between Arabia Terra and Chryse Planitia (335.5E, 18.2N). Oxia Planum bears several evidences of aqueous activity [1-4], where infrared data reveal extensive outcrops of recently exhumed clay-rich rocks. These outcrops are perfect “windows” to search for signs of past or present life on Mars, as biosignatures might be preserved therein [5]. Clays detected at Oxia Planum are among those found all over circum-Chryse Planitia [6], a flat lowland region and bottom end of many outflow channels. Here, we focus on possible clay-bearing outcrops detected in northern Xanthe Terra (313E, 13N) (Figure 1), a region that has already been suggested for several rover missions. Like in Oxia Planum, several morphological features advocate for a fluvio-deltaic and lacustrine history in the region [7-9], with fluvial channels and fan deltas (e.g., Sabrina and Hypanis valley systems). Despite a possible detection of Fe,Mg-rich clays at the Sabrina delta [10,11], no detailed spectral survey have been done in the entire area. A detailed analysis of these outcrops is crucial to better determine possible mineral phase(s) and search for changes in clay mineralogies associated with differences in formation and weathering conditions. We examine infrared data, particularly the absorptions centered in the 1.0–2.6 μm spectral range, in order to better constrain the nature and composition of the clays. Figure 1 – Locations of Oxia Planum (OP) and northern Xanthe Terra (XT) at the margins of circum-Chryse Planitia. Data & Methods. Spectral signatures of the clay outcrops are obtained from data gathered by the CRISM instrument, with spatial resolutions of 20–40 m.px-1 and a spectral resolution of 6.6 nm [12]. For this study we use several CRISM cubes acquired in the near-infrared spectral range (1–4 µm), targeting the northern Xanthe Terra. They are first pre-processed through CAT ENVI for atmospheric and photometric corrections. Corrected cubes are then denoised (column-by-column ratio) to reduce noise and residual atmospheric contributions, and to finally emphasize mineralogical absorptions in the ratioed spectrum. Once the cubes are corrected and denoised, we define our regions of interest (ROIs) to outline clays. We calculate band depths at 1.9 and 2.3 µm [13] to select pixels with strong absorptions and map the ROIs for each cube (Figure 2). Figure 2 – Two sites of interest exposing clay-bearing outcrops: near the Sabrina fan delta at the Magong crater (313.4E, 12.1N) and an isolated outcrop in eastern Xanthe Terra (317.5E, 10N). We also include the possible clay outcrops identified at the delta [10,11]. Results. For each cube, we retrieve the band centers for all pixel of the ROIs within the three spectral ranges of interest: 1.4 µm (1.37–1.45), 1.9 µm (1.88–1.96), and 2.3 µm (2.26–2.34) (after continuum removal to emphasize the absorptions). The band centers do not strongly vary for the three narrow absorptions, with average values being 1.408 ± 0.009 µm, 1.923 ± 0.008 µm, and 2.305 ± 0.009 µm. FRT0A605 is the only cube displaying a clear overtone near 2.4 µm and a shallow absorption near 2.5 µm. We therefore retrieve the band centers near 2.4 µm (2.36–2.44) and 2.5 µm (2.49–2.57), where the cube shows average values of 2.397 ± 0.009 µm, and 2.530 ± 0.010 µm. Overall, these values are identical to those recently obtained at Oxia Planum [4] (Figure 3). Figure 3 – (left) Spectra of CRISM denoised reflectance (normalized and offset for clarity) obtained in northern Xanthe Terra. (top right) We also include three spectra from Oxia Planum [4]. (bottom right) Lab spectra of main candidate Fe,Mg-rich clays (RELAB). Discussion. CRISM cubes reveal several absorptions in the 1.1–2.6 µm range. Absorptions near 1.4 and 1.9 µm are common to hydrated minerals (OH/H2O stretching), while an absorption near 2.3 µm indicates a (Fe,Mg)-OH vibration. Xanthe’s clays are consistent with Fe,Mg-rich clays, combining absorptions at 1.41, 1.92, 2.30–2.31 µm and weaker overtones near 2.39–2.40 µm. Martian Fe,Mg-rich clays generally show spectral variability in the three windows. Xanthe’s clays intermediate band centers are consistent with either vermiculites and Fe-rich saponite (Figure 3), like in Oxia [4]. Band centers within these windows vary very little throughout the region. Exact positions therein depend on the relative abundance of iron and magnesium in the clay structure, and also oxidation state of iron. Conclusions. We provide in-depth information on the clay-bearing outcrops found in northern Xanthe Terra, to compare with recent results obtained in Oxia Planum [2,4]: (1) report exact positions of the 1.4, 1.9, 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 µm absorption bands, and (2) map the “purest” clays in the targeted areas, in context with the morphology and topography. This allows for further investigations in context with the ExoMars rover mission or other future rover missions. Acknowledgments. This work is fully funded and supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) [Grant ASI-INAF n. 2017-48-H.0]. We are greatly thankful to the CRISM team for the CAT tool, and European Space Agency (ESA) and Russian Space Agency ROSCOSMOS for the ExoMars project. References. [1] Carter et al. (2016) 47th LPSC Abstracts, 2064. [2] Mandon et al. (2021) Astrobiology 21, 464–480. [3] Quantin-Nataf et al. (2021) Astrobiology 21, 345–366. [4] Brossier et al. (under review) Icarus. [5] Vago et al. (2017) Astrobiology 17, 471–510. [6] Carter et al. (2013) JGR 118, 831–858. [7] Fawdon et al. (2018) EPSL 500, 225–241. [8] Adler et al. (2019) Icarus 319, 885–908. [9] Adler et al. (2022) JGR 127, e2021JE006994. [10] Platz et al. (2014) 9th EPSC Abstracts, 811. [11] Knade et al. (2017) 11th EPSC Abstracts, 692-1. [12] Murchie et al. (2007) JGR 112, E05S03; Murchie et al. (2009) JGR 114, E00D07. [13] Viviano-Beck et al. (2014) JGR 119, 1403–1431. [14] Ehlmann et al. (2008) Science 322, 1828–1832.

Introduction: OpenPlanetary, or simply "OP", is an international non-profit organisation that promotes open research in the planetary science and exploration communities: sharing ideas and collaborating on planetary research and data analysis problems, new challenges, and opportunities [1]. OpenPlanetary started in 2015 as a way for participants of the ESA’s Planetary GIS Workshop to stay connected and exchange information related to and beyond this workshop. It expanded further by playing a similar role for the second USGS-hosted Planetary Data Workshop (PDW) in 2017. OpenPlanetary has continued to support the biannual PDW and provides a more persistent forum for participants to highlight presented topics and discussions from the workshops. In 2018, we established OpenPlanetary as a non-profit organisation (Association under 1901 French Law, [2]) in order to provide us with a legal framework to sustainably fund our community framework, projects and activities, and to better serve the planetary science community as a whole. OpenPlanetary is governed by a Board of Directors, elected for two years, which (1) define the policy and general orientation, (2) initiate, endorse, lead, or contribute to the projects and activities, and (3) can make use of the funds of the Association for any endorsed project or activity; the Bureau contains a 3-person subset of the Board members (a president, treasurer, and secretary) and serves as the executive body of the Association. Mission: Our mission is to promote and facilitate the open practice of planetary science and data analysis for professionals and amateurs. We do so by organizing events and conducting collaborative projects aimed at creating scientific, technical and educational resources, tools and data accessible to all. Members and Membership: With currently 300+ members across the world, OpenPlanetary membership is free and open to research and education professionals: scientists, engineers, designers, teachers and students, space enthusiasts and citizen scientists [3]. Although the early membership had a strong representation in planetary surface and mapping sciences, OpenPlanetary has expanded and is intended to serve as an “umbrella” for all communities of planetary data and tool users, producers or providers across scientific disciplines, space missions or working groups. Collaboration Platform: Our collaboration platform mainly consists of fully-featured Slack and Github instances. OP members use OP Slack workspace to stay connected and have real-time discussions with other members [4], and are entitled to request admin rights to host and manage open source projects on OP Github organization [5]. Online Forum: We provide a public online OP Forum for research professionals and amateurs across all planetary science disciplines and communities to find help, share and discuss data, tools and resources [6]. While OP Slack is considered for the more informal discussions, the OP Forum is intended to post Q/A and discussion ”gems'' from OP Slack, or any resources that would help a broader community (eg: a short tip, a handy how-to guide or a list of curated resources), and that would benefit from having a permanent web-presence and being discoverable by search engines. Data Cafés: Since 2017, we have organised Data Cafés at scientific conferences for people to meet, share, discuss and solve common challenges and issues related to planetary data handling and analysis. These events follow an "unconference" format allowing and encouraging anyone to propose a topic and lead a group activity (eg: demo, tutorial, hack), or simply to ask for help [7]. Online Events: Unable to continue with the in-person Data Cafés in 2020, we started hosting virtual online events: (1) OPvCon in June 2020 was our first free virtual conference, scheduled in place of the cancelled Planetary Science Informatics and Data Analytics Conference (PSIDA). It consisted of lecture-length talks from invited speakers, networking opportunities, workshops and tutorials, and a hackathon [8], and (2) since March 2020, we have hosted weekly OP Lunch Talks to present and discuss technical topics of interest to the planetary science community [9]. Most of these events are recorded and made publicly available on YouTube. They now represent a substantial collection of high-quality informational resources and training videos on diverse topics related to planetary science [10]. Community Projects: Our flagship project is OpenPlanetaryMap (OPM), an open planetary mapping and social platform and effort to foster planetary mapping and cartography on the web for all [11]. We also support PlanetaryPy, a community effort to develop a core package for planetary science in Python and foster interoperability between Python planetary science packages [12]. A number of other projects not strictly homed under the OP umbrella have arisen from collaborations fostered in OP Slack or during OP Lunch discussion sessions. Outlook: We held our first yearly OpenPlanetary General Assembly in December 2020 [13], during which a new Board of Directors was elected. Our main focus within the next couple of years is on (1) consolidating and expanding OP Lunch and other virtual activities, (2) increasing the usage and impact of the OP Forum for all communities (eg: Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) communities), and (3) identifying sustainable funding opportunities. References: [1] https://www.openplanetary.org, [2] https://www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr/associations/detail-annonce/associations_b/20180009/457, https://www.openplanetary.org/join, [4] http://openplanetary.slack.com, [5] https://github.com/openplanetary, [6] https://forum.openplanetary.org [7] https://github.com/openplanetary/op-data-cafe, [8] https://www.openplanetary.org/vcon, [9] https://www.openplanetary.org/vlunch, [10] https://www.youtube.com/openplanetary, [11] https://www.openplanetary.org/opm, [12] https://planetarypy.org, [13] https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QfGzTT760DpTCFucCaOsOGFLY8Wyy1rE

Lunar Gravitational-wave Antenna (LGWA) proposes to deploy an array of high-end seismometers on the surface of the Moon. The LGWA network will measure the lunar surface displacement excited by Gravitational waves (GWs) with a targeted observation band of 1mHz – few Hz. Seismic noise in that frequency band is very low due to the absence of atmosphere and oceans, representing the main inherent advantage that makes the Moon an ideal target for a GW detection experiment. The scientific and technical challenges of LGWA are diverse. Since its initiation, LGWA has relied on experts from fundamental physics, astrophysics, geophysics, engineering, and planetary science. The collaboration is currently organized in working groups (WGs) to cover five key themes: GW science, lunar science, payload, deployment, and operations. At the beginning of 2022, we started the activities of WG2 to assess the current knowledge of the lunar environment. We aim to characterize and develop models of deployment scenarios suitable for LGWA sensors, via a multi-pronged approach of data analysis and on-field experiments probing terrestrial analogs of lunar terrains. Besides characterizing the lunar seismic background noise, other goals of the group are related to modeling the lunar interior structure as well as Moon’s normal modes. These will be further used to develop a model of the interaction between the Moon and GWs. The knowledge about the displacement level of this excitation and the background noise will be used to define novel techniques for background noise reduction.For this purpose, WG2 is composed of physicists, engineers, geophysicists, and geologists. For our activities, we chose an interdisciplinary approach that requires initial communication efforts to create a common ground that will evolve into a crucial baseline activity for the whole LGWA project.Here we will report our progress in the first months of the activity of our collaboration.

Terrestrial simulations for crewed missions are critically important for testing technologies and improving methods and procedures for future robotic and human planetary exploration. In February 2018, AMADEE-18 simulated a mission to Mars in the Dhofar region of Oman. During the mission, a field crew coordinated by the Österreichisches Weltraum Forum (OeWF) accomplished several experiments in the fields of astrobiology, space physiology and medicine, geology, and geophysics. Within the scientific payload of AMADEE-18, ScanMars provided geophysical radar imaging of the subsurface at the simulated landing site and was operated by analog astronauts wearing spacesuits during extra-vehicular activities. The analog astronauts were trained to operate a ground-penetrating radar instrument that transmits and then collects radio waves carrying information about the geological setting of the first few meters of the subsurface. The data presented in this work show signal returns from structures down to 4 m depth, associated with the geology of the investigated rocks. Integrating radar data and the analog astronauts' observations of the geology at the surface, it was possible to identify the contact between shallow sediments and bedrock, the local occurrence of conductive soils, and the presence of pebbly materials in the shallow subsurface, which together describe the geology of recent loose sediments overlying an older deformed bedrock. The results obtained by ScanMars confirm that subsurface radar sounding at martian landing sites is key for the geological characterization at shallow depths. The geologic model of the subsurface can be used as the basis for reconstructing palaeoenvironments and paleo-habitats, thus assisting scientific investigations looking for traces of present or past life on the Red Planet. Highlights The ScanMars experiment brings a ground-penetrating radar to the AMADEE-18 simulated Mars mission. The ScanMars radar was operated following procedures and training developed before the mission. Approximately 2000 m of radar data profiles have been acquired during the analog mission. Combining the results for ScanMars, orbital remote sensing data, and first-person observation in the field while wearing spacesuits (analog astronauts), it was possible to generate a geological model at the AMADEE-18 study site.

Between February 1 and 28, 2018, the Austrian Space Forum, in cooperation with the Oman Astronomical Society and research teams from 25 nations, conducted the AMADEE-18 mission, a human-robotic Mars expedition simulation in the Dhofar region in the Sultanate of Oman. As a part of the AMADEE-18 simulated Mars human exploration mission, the Remote Science Support team performed analyses of the Dhofar area (Oman) in an effort to characterize the region as a potential Mars analog site. The main motivation of this research was to study and register selected samples collected by analog astronauts during the AMADEE-18 mission with laboratory analytical methods and techniques comparable with those that are likely to be used on Mars in the future. The 25 samples representing unconsolidated sediments obtained during the simulated mission were studied by using optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. The principal results show the existence of minerals and alteration processes related to volcanism, hydrothermalism, and weathering. The analogy between the Dhofar region and the Eridana Basin region of Mars is clearly noticeable, particularly as an analog for secondary minerals formed in a hydrothermal seafloor volcanic-sedimentary environment. The synergy between the techniques used in the present work provides a solid basis for the geochemical analyses and organic detection in the context of future human-robotic Mars expeditions. AMADEE-18 has been a prime test bed for geoscientific workflows with astrobiological relevance and has provided valuable insights for future space missions.

Introduction The selected landing site of the ExoMars mission (Oxia Planum) [1] shows mineralogical and morphological evidence that it was characterized by a hydrothermal history and by a long duration of aqueous superficial activity [2; 3]. These factors are consistent with conditions favourable to life development. In this framework, we planned a field campaign in the Rio Tinto [4] area (Europlanet TA1 facility 2) where to perform a set of VIS-NIR measurements using our portable spectrometer. In addition, for each analyzed mineral/rock on-field, we collect a representative sample to be measured with the Ma_MISS instrument laboratory model. Fig.1: TA1.2 Rio Tinto, south-west Spain a very acidic 100 km river with intense red dark colour (credits F. Gomez). The Ma_MISS instrument Ma_MISS is the Visible and Near-Infrared miniaturized spectrometer hosted in the drill system of the ExoMars rover that will characterize the mineralogy and stratigraphy of the excavated borehole wall at different depths (2O and hydrated phases; (3) characterize important optical and physical properties of the materials (e.g., grain size); (4) produce a stratigraphic column that will provide information on the subsurface geology. Ma_MISS will operate periodically during pauses in drilling activity and will produce hyperspectral images of the drill’s borehole. Field activity During the field campaign, we perform a set of VIS-NIR (0.35 – 2.5 μm) measurements using our ASD FieldSpec4 portable spectrometer on biosignatures-bearing rocks and acidic alteration products. For each selected lithotype we collect several reflectance spectra using solar light as the light source and a 99% Spectralon target as a reference in the VIS-NIR range, with particular attention to those that hypothetically host organic matter in the form of bacterial communities. In addition, for each measured mineral/rock we collect a representative sample to be used for the laboratory measurements with the Ma_MISS laboratory model. With this setup, it is possible to perform measurements with samples in different configurations (powders, slabs, or holed rock blocks); hence, we collect samples with different specific dimensions. In the case of incoherent sediments/salts, we sample a minimum amount of 20-30 g. On the contrary, in the case of coherent samples, we collect blocks with a maximum size of 10x10x10 cm, which are the optimal dimensions useful for performing the drilling operations and in-hole measurements with the DAVIS setup [6,7]. For each collected sample, we record the following data at the time of collection: imagery of the context and the sampling site with a reference scale, the three-dimensional orientation of the sample, and the geographic coordinates at the collection point using a GNSS dual-frequency GPS. Every sample is sealed in a specific container to avoid any contamination [8]. The samples’ metadata are registered in the System for Earth Samples Registration (SESAR) for long-term archival of the physical samples which can be retrieved from a unique ISGN code (isgn.org) for referencing in this and future projects. Laboratory activity The collected samples were measured with the DAVIS (Drill for Analogues and Visible-Infrared Spectrometer) setup at the INAF-IAPS laboratories. This laboratory facility is constituted by a drilling tool that reproduces the ExoMars Drill functionality (Laboratory Drill, LD [6]) and by a measurement tool, reproducing Ma_MISS optical characteristics (Ma_MISS Optical Tool, MOT [7]). Consisting of spare elements of the flight instrument, the DAVIS setup can be considered an instrument completely comparable to the one that will investigate the Martian subsurface. For this reason, the measurements on the collected samples become very important for instrument characterization and future data interpretation. The collected sample blocks are drilled to obtain a hole with the same characteristics as those that the ExoMars drill will do on Mars. Finally, we perform a series of in-hole spectral scans to characterize the chemical-physical properties of the collected samples. The data collected on-field and in the laboratory are analyzed and compared to reconstruct the composition of the analyzed samples. We will focus our efforts on any spectral signature related to the presence of biomarkers in the collected data since we know that the Ma_MISS tool can aid in detecting organics [9] in the Martian subsoil, which is one of the main scientific objectives of the ExoMars mission. Conclusions In this work, we describe the procedures followed during our geological field analysis campaign in the Rio Tinto area. This geologically/biologically well-documented site with its rock/water/biology interaction represents an ideal open-air laboratory where to collect spectral data and samples useful for testing the ExoMars/Ma_MISS spectrometer. The scientific results obtained by this and previous works made with other drilling equipment [10] and with other scientific instruments [11] confirm that this type of activity in the Rio Tinto area site is important for enriching the scientific community's grasp on the Martian environment and for obtaining key information on the mineralogical and geochemical evolution of the Martian surface/subsurface. In addition, this work provides crucial preparation for the exploitation and interpretation of the scientific data that the Ma_MISS instrument will supply during the active phase of the mission. This activity is also useful for defining the priorities of the astrobiological objectives on the ground. Acknowledgements This work is supported by the Italian Space Agency grant ASI-INAF n. 2017-412-H.0. Ma_MISS is funded by ASI and INAF. Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149. References [1]Vago, J.L. et al. (2017) Astrobiology; [2]Mandon, L. et al. (2021) Astrobiology; [3]Quantin-Nataf, C. et al. (2021) Astrobiology; [4]Amils, R. et al. (2014) Life; [5]De Sanctis, M.C. et al. (2017) Astrobiology; [6]Rossi, L. et al. (2022) 53rd LPSC #1353; [7]De Angelis, S. et al. 53rd LPSC (2022) #1796; [8]Cockell, C.S., et al. (2019) Space Sci Rev. [9]Ferrari, M. et al. (2020), EPSC2020-348; [10]Bonaccorsi, R. et al (2008) Astrobiology; [11]Gomez, F. et al., (2011) Int. J. Astrobiology.

We analyzed the surface of Vesta at visible wavelengths, using the data of the Visible and InfraRed mapping spectrometer (VIR) on board the Dawn spacecraft. We mapped the variations of various spectral parameters on the entire surface of the asteroid, and also derived a map of the lithology. We took advantage of the recent corrected VIR visible data to map the radiance factor at 550 nm, three color composites, two spectral slopes, and a band area parameter relative to the 930 nm crystal field signature in pyroxene. Using the howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) meteorites data as a reference, we derived the lithology of Vesta using the variations of the 930 nm and 506 nm (spin-forbidden) band centers observed in the VIR dataset. Our spectral parameters highlight a significant spectral diversity at the surface of Vesta. This diversity is mainly evidenced by impact craters and illustrates the heterogeneous subsurface and upper crust of Vesta. Impact craters also participate directly in this spectral diversity by bringing dark exogenous material to an almost entire hemisphere. Our derived lithology agrees with previous results obtained using a combination of infrared and visible data. We therefore demonstrate that it is possible to obtain crucial mineralogical information from visible wavelengths alone. In addition to the 506 nm band, we identified the 550 nm spin-forbidden one. As reported by a laboratory study for synthetic pyroxenes, we also do not observe any shift of the band center of this feature across the surface of Vesta, and thus across different mineralogies, preventing use of the 550 nm spin-forbidden band for the lithology derivation. Finally, the largest previously identified olivine rich-spot shows a peculiar behavior in two color composites but not in the other spectral parameters., Comment: 23 pages, 11+7 figures

The current generation of rovers exploring Mars for traces of life feature tools for subsurface sampling capabilities. This addition to the sampling capabilities of the martian rovers is crucial for the search for life. In fact, in the subsurface life is more likely to be protected from the harsh radiation environment present on the surface. The sampling of subsurface materials started with the analysis of the first millimeters of unweathered rocks being pulverized or abraded (NASA/MSL), evolved with the extraction of small cores from the first 10 centimeters (NASA/Mars2020), and will continue with the exploratory drilling of ESA's ExoMars 2022 which is capable of reaching 2 meters of depth. The proper planning and interpretation of measurements below the topographic surface require a model of the subsurface. Geological models are digital representations of subsurface structures generated by the sequence in time of processes putting in place different rocks and terrains. Geologic cross-sections are an example of bi-dimensional modeling that extends observations taken at the surface. Modern geologic models are commonly developed in three dimensions and used for terrestrial resource exploration, seismic analyses, and hydrologic simulations. The key to a good geologic model is the integration of measurements taken by different instruments. For ExoMars 2022, observations at the surface will be extended at depth by the spectrometer Ma_MISS which will read the mineralogical composition down to two meters, and the radar WISDOM which will collect geophysical images of the terrain down to ten meters or more. In this work, we explore different methods to generate geological models of the subsurface of areas at Oxia Planum and a selection of analog outcrops at different scales.

Introduction: The Dawn NASA mission investigated Ceres with its payload, including the Visual (0.25–1 μm) and InfraRed (1–5 μm) mapping spectrometer (VIR) [1]. The first findings from the VIR-IR channel confirmed some previous results from ground-based observations [2]: composition of surface includes a dark component (carbon and/or magnetite) and Mg-carbonates. The detection of a strong absorption at 2.7 μm was assigned to Mg-phyllosilicates; while the 3.06-μm absorption was attributed to NH4-phyllosilicates [3]. The elemental data from the GRaND instrument [4] provided additional constraints on the abundance of C, H, K, and Fe, [5,6], establishing that the dark material that makes up most of Ceres’ surface should be like carbonaceous chondrite [7,8]. The recent improvement in the VIR-VIS channel calibration [9,10] allows taking advantage of the full VIS spectral range. Following [9] and [10], IR channel calibration was also refined [9,10,11,12]. Data were photometrically corrected to standard viewing geometry using Hapke modeling [13] according to [14]. Thermal emission was removed [11]. The resulting spectrum is shown in Fig. 1. The VIR data have shown a clear absorption at 1 μm confirming previous ground observations [2]. The interpretation of such feature, in the context of the average spectrum of Ceres, provides new constraints on Ceres mineralogy. The 1μm feature: The 1-micron band that characterizes the average spectrum of ceres is also common in the spectra of several types of carbonaceous chondrites, (e.g., Ivuna CI, MAC87300 C2-ung, and DAV92300 CK4) (Fig. 2). Previous work [15,16,17] has suggested that these meteorites are characterized by the presence of mafic silicates and magnetite, which are often the main constituents of their fine-grained matrix in addition to low-crystallinity components. In the VIS-NIR range, the main bands of mafic silicates are between 0.9 and 1.1 μm. These absorption features are induced by Fe2+, whose coordination in the crystal structure determines the position of the bands. Ferrous oxides, such as magnetite, show very shallow absorption in the VIS-NIR range. Iron-containing carbonates also have a broad band near 1 μm, but they also show several other vibrational bands between 1.7 and 2.6 μm, allowing them to be distinguished from silicates and oxides. The near-1 μm band associated with the presence of iron is also evident in the spectra of low-crystallinity Fe-containing materials, such as tektites and volcanic glasses. In this case, the depth of the 1μm band varies depending on the amount of iron in octahedral coordination [18]. Mineralogical implications: The possible presence of magnetite on the surface of Ceres as one of the agents responsible for the low albedo of the dwarf planet may be supported by the mineral assemblage as detected by the VIR. Thus, the simultaneous presence of Mg-serpentine could suggest that most of the magnetite could have formed during the serpentinization process because of a serpentinization reaction [21]. The contemporaneous presence of magnetite and serpentine could disguise the spectral contribution of olivine, which may be present as a partially serpentinized primary crust. The occurrence of olivine has also been identified in laboratory heated serpentine and in heated carbonaceous chondrites [22,23]. These laboratory data show that the incipient crystallization of metamorphic olivine changes spectral properties by introducing a bump near 0.8 μm and a broad band near 1 μm, which resembles that observed in the average Ceres spectrum. This does not prove that Ceres experienced a high-temperature metamorphic process because the metamorphic olivine nucleation involves high temperatures that are inconsistent with the stability of ammonium hosted in clay minerals [24,25]. In this case, the presence of olivine could be an indication of a partial serpentinization process that affected the surface of Ceres. During the serpentinization process, the dissolution of olivine is also related to the formation of poorly crystalline phases [26] that represent metastable precursors of crystalline serpentine. Amorphous and nanocrystalline material has also been found in the matrix of several carbonaceous chondrites [27]. Spectral data obtained on mixtures of crystalline olivine and ferrous glass indicate that by increasing the content of the amorphous component, the band at 1 μm becomes shallower [28]. An additional complication in the interpretation of the 1 μm band in the average Ceres spectrum can be introduced by the presence of a fine-grained coating of iron-containing material that can introduce a spectral slope [29] consistent with the VIR data. Conclusions: Remnants of primary olivine, magnetite, and/or low-crystallinity iron phases may be responsible for the 1-μm band in Ceres' average spectrum. Further spectral modeling and laboratory activities will allow a better comprehension of this absorption feature giving important hints on the geological evolution of the dwarf planet. Acknowledgments: VIR data are available through the Planetary Data System (PDS) online data archive at:https://sbn.psi.edu/pds/resource/dawn/dwncvirL1.html. The VIR is funded by ASI and was developed under the leadership of INAF-IAPS. Selex-Galileo, Italy, built the instrument. The authors acknowledge the support of the Dawn Science, Instrument, and Operations Teams. This work was supported by ASIINAF n. I/004/12/0 and NASA. References: [1]De Sanctis MC et al SpaceSciRev (2011) [2]Rivkin AS et al SpaceSciRev (2011) [3]De Sanctis MC et al Nature (2015) [4]Prettyman TH et al SpaceSciRev (2011) [5]Prettyman TH Science (2017) [6]Prettyman TH et al 49th LPSC (2018) [7]Marchi S et al Nat Astron (2019) [8]Kurokawa H et al J Geophys Res Planets (2020) [9]Rousseau B et al Rev Sci Instrum (2019) [10]Rousseau B et al Astron Astrophys (2020) [11]Raponi et al Life (2021) [12]Carrozzo FG et al Rev Sci Instrum (2016) [13]Hapke B Theory of Reflectance and Emittance Spectroscopy Cambridge UK (1993) [14]Ciarniello M et al Astron Astrophys (2017) [15]King AJ et al Earth Planets and Space (2015) [16]Kallemeyn G W Meteoritics (1992) [17]Marlow R et al Antarct Met Newslett (1993) [18]Bell PM et al Proc 7th Lunar Sci Conf (1976) [19]Castillo‐Rogez J et al Meteorit Planet Sci (2018) [20]McSween HY et al Meteorit Planet Sci (2018) [21]Evans BW Geology (2010) [22]Hiroi T et al Antarct Met Res (1999) [23]Cloutis EA et al Icarus 221 (2012) [24]De Angelis et al JGR Planets (2021) [25]Bishop et al Planet Space Sci (2002) [26]King HE et al Environ Sci Tech (2010) [27]Abreu NM et al Microsc Microanal Suppl2 (2019) [28]Horgan BHN et al Icarus (2014) [29]Fisher EM Pieters CM Icarus (1993)

Introduction: OpenPlanetary, or simply "OP", is an international non-profit organisation that promotes open research in the planetary science and exploration communities: sharing ideas and collaborating on planetary research and data analysis problems, new challenges, and opportunities [1]. OpenPlanetary started in 2015 as a way for participants of the ESA’s Planetary GIS Workshop to stay connected and exchange information related to and beyond this workshop. It expanded further by playing a similar role for the second USGS-hosted Planetary Data Workshop (PDW) in 2017. OpenPlanetary has continued to support the biannual PDW and provides a more persistent forum for participants to highlight presented topics and discussions from the workshops. In 2018, we established OpenPlanetary as a non-profit organisation (Association under 1901 French Law, [2]) in order to provide us with a legal framework to sustainably fund our community framework, projects and activities, and to better serve the planetary science community as a whole. OpenPlanetary is governed by a Board of Directors, elected for two years, which (1) define the policy and general orientation, (2) initiate, endorse, lead, or contribute to the projects and activities, and (3) can make use of the funds of the Association for any endorsed project or activity; the Bureau contains a 3-person subset of the Board members (a president, treasurer, and secretary) and serves as the executive body of the Association. Mission: Our mission is to promote and facilitate the open practice of planetary science and data analysis for professionals and amateurs. We do so by organizing events and conducting collaborative projects aimed at creating scientific, technical and educational resources, tools and data accessible to all. Members and Membership: With currently 300+ members across the world, OpenPlanetary membership is free and open to research and education professionals: scientists, engineers, designers, teachers and students, space enthusiasts and citizen scientists [3]. Although the early membership had a strong representation in planetary surface and mapping sciences, OpenPlanetary has expanded and is intended to serve as an “umbrella” for all communities of planetary data and tool users, producers or providers across scientific disciplines, space missions or working groups. Collaboration Platform: Our collaboration platform mainly consists of fully-featured Slack and Github instances. OP members use OP Slack workspace to stay connected and have real-time discussions with other members [4], and are entitled to request admin rights to host and manage open source projects on OP Github organization [5]. Online Forum: We provide a public online OP Forum for research professionals and amateurs across all planetary science disciplines and communities to find help, share and discuss data, tools and resources [6]. While OP Slack is considered for the more informal discussions, the OP Forum is intended to post Q/A and discussion ”gems'' from OP Slack, or any resources that would help a broader community (eg: a short tip, a handy how-to guide or a list of curated resources), and that would benefit from having a permanent web-presence and being discoverable by search engines. Data Cafés: Since 2017, we have organised Data Cafés at scientific conferences for people to meet, share, discuss and solve common challenges and issues related to planetary data handling and analysis. These events follow an "unconference" format allowing and encouraging anyone to propose a topic and lead a group activity (eg: demo, tutorial, hack), or simply to ask for help [7]. Online Events: Unable to continue with the in-person Data Cafés in 2020, we started hosting virtual online events: (1) OPvCon in June 2020 was our first free virtual conference, scheduled in place of the cancelled Planetary Science Informatics and Data Analytics Conference (PSIDA). It consisted of lecture-length talks from invited speakers, networking opportunities, workshops and tutorials, and a hackathon [8], and (2) since March 2020, we have hosted weekly OP Lunch Talks to present and discuss technical topics of interest to the planetary science community [9]. Most of these events are recorded and made publicly available on YouTube. They now represent a substantial collection of high-quality informational resources and training videos on diverse topics related to planetary science [10]. Community Projects: Our flagship project is OpenPlanetaryMap (OPM), an open planetary mapping and social platform and effort to foster planetary mapping and cartography on the web for all [11]. We also support PlanetaryPy, a community effort to develop a core package for planetary science in Python and foster interoperability between Python planetary science packages [12]. A number of other projects not strictly homed under the OP umbrella have arisen from collaborations fostered in OP Slack or during OP Lunch discussion sessions. Outlook: We held our first yearly OpenPlanetary General Assembly in December 2020 [13], during which a new Board of Directors was elected. Our main focus within the next couple of years is on (1) consolidating and expanding OP Lunch and other virtual activities, (2) increasing the usage and impact of the OP Forum for all communities (eg: Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) communities), and (3) identifying sustainable funding opportunities. References: [1] https://www.openplanetary.org, [2] https://www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr/associations/detail-annonce/associations_b/20180009/457, [3] https://www.openplanetary.org/join, [4] http://openplanetary.slack.com, [5] https://github.com/openplanetary, [6] https://forum.openplanetary.org [7] https://github.com/openplanetary/op-data-cafe, [8] https://www.openplanetary.org/vcon, [9] https://www.openplanetary.org/vlunch, [10] https://www.youtube.com/openplanetary, [11] https://www.openplanetary.org/opm, [12] https://planetarypy.org, [13] https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QfGzTT760DpTCFucCaOsOGFLY8Wyy1rE

Introduction: In the field of planetary remote sensing, terabytes of data from extraterrestrial planetary bodies are made available to the scientific community today. With the development of new missions, the volume and variety of these data continue to grow. This development has been largely facilitated through developments leading to higher integrated technology allowing to build compact and efficiently performing platforms and instrumentation. A likely other reason might be an increasing international competitive pressure which motivated new developments in sensor technology and mission designs. Along with the increase of raw data volume, the volume of derived research data continues to grow in parallel, albeit at a slower rate. While mission data, i.e. primary research data (PRD), as derived from instruments, are commonly well maintained within archives such as the Planetary Data System (PDS) and Planetary Science Archive (PSA), derived research data, i.e., secondary research data (SRD) might not always share the same fate. For an more user and object-oriented usage of mission data first efforts came up in the last years [1-3]. Scientific studies, resulting in further derived data do not often receive the same attention. In order to accomplish efficient research data management (RDM) for both kind of RD and to provide tools across research domains it is important to develop appropriate and effective structures. In that context, research data infrastructures (RDI) have the primary goal of collecting existing data under uniform guidelines and to make data accessible in defined ways. RDI initiatives supports the establishment of research management practices, including adopted metadata standards, research lifecycle and associated infrastructures. E.g. The European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) as RDI undertaking, "aims to federate existing and future RDI - across disciplines - under a single umbrella, and provides (open) services for the European researcher community." [4] They are targeted to provide faster and more efficient data access in order to pool resources and avoid duplication where redundancy is technically not needed. A large volume of RD that are derived in the field of planetary research carry an explicit spatial component through an absolute reference, or through relative location information, as inherent characteristics, which can thus be described as spatial data and spatial RD. These spatial (research) data serve as fundamental basis for further cartographic products and maps. Maps, as one example of SRD, have been an essential part of planetary research since the beginning of observation and they have been constantly refined and improved since then. Planetary maps range from image maps to topographic reference maps, to geologic and to landing-site maps. Their variety, however, is naturally limited due to the lack of anthropogenic overprint and lithologic diversity. In order to re-integrate these maps into the research-data life cycle [5] and to make them not only available for a sustainable reuse, but also to improve the associated information, further efforts are necessary which are outlined in the following sections. Aims: The overarching goal here is to develop a practical concept, and to address requirements to enable open, transparent and sustainable access to planetary maps as part of the open planetary spatial research data family. Therefore, approved and established environments serve as blueprint for our concept for an Open Planetary Map repository. We here refer to maps as conventional cartographic visualization products which contain a classical map layout composed of the main map contents (the topics), map frame, map grid information related to at least one cartographic reference system, map scale information, map title and map legend, as well as other map-related metadata information [6, 7]. These maps can be provided in different formats on various media. Method and Results: In order to assess the current situation and to find a strategy to close the planetary research-data cycle, we first need to analyze the main elements along its current research path. We here 1. identify how the current situation, including users (actors) and data flows, is constituted and how main processes are characterized. In step 2., additional as well as potentially alternative roles and data paths, respectively, are identified and further developed through user and system requirements. Finally, based on the assessment of the current situation and a requirement analysis, potential solutions are highlighted in step 3. that build upon existing Earth-based Infrastructure developments, especially the INSPIRE framework [8] or demonstrate which additional developments are required. Especially the adaption of spatial research infrastructure developments shows how the planetary community could benefit from an adaption of existing infrastructure environments in order to Summary: The aim of this study is to characterize the relationships between different interest groups (stakeholders) and products as well as processes, and to discuss how processes could potentially be optimized and streamlined in order to re-insert planetary maps (and research information) into a healthy and sustainable research cycle. Developments like this could build a thematic bridge to Earth-based RD repositories [9-11] in order to push the reuse of planetary maps forward. One way of realizing an approach targeted at improving the re-use of research data in the planetary sciences is by merging the existing alternatives and to integrate the structural benefits from the INSPIRE (or any other SDI) domain. The creation of an Open Map Repository as part of a Planetary Research Data Infrastructure is described in detail in [12], in particular with respect to the communication and participation, coordination and the technical implementation. References: [1] Laura, J.R., et al 2017. ISPRS Journal of Geo-Information 6, 181; [2] Laura, J.R. et al 2018. Earth and Space Science 5, doi:10.1029/10702018EA000411; [3] Laura, J.R. and Beyer, R.A., 2021. The Planetary Science Journal 2. doi:10.10663847/PSJ/abcb94; [4] Latif, A. et al, 2019. Data Science Journal 18. doi:10.5334/dsj-2019-017 [5] Corti, L., et al. 2019. Managing and Sharing Research Data: A Guide to Good Practice. SAGE Publishing [6] Robinson, A.H., et al. 1995. Elements of Cartography. 6 ed., Wiley, New York; [7] Hake, G., et al. 2001. Kartographie, de Gruyter; [8] https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/tags/sdi# [9] www.eosc.eu, [10] https://www.earthcube.org/, [11] https://pangaea.de/, [12] Nass, A. et al. 2021, in print) Facilitating Reuse of Planetary Spatial Research Data. PSS

Introduction: Meridiani Planum is a relatively plain area located at the Martian equator, south of Arabia Terra, approximately ranging from longitude 350°E to 10°E. Heavily cratered Noachian-aged terrains constitute the oldest geological unit in the region, where several channels and valley networks have left their imprint on the surface [1]. A series of younger terrains were then emplaced in some areas, likely during Late Noachian/Early Hesperian epochs [2]. Meridiani Planum shows signs of a diversified and complex history of aqueous activity in many locations. In addition to the evidence provided by the numerous valley networks, data from OMEGA and CRISM orbital spectrometers have revealed the presence of Fe/Mg phyllosilicates and sulfates throughout the area [3]. These hydrated minerals usually form by alteration in aqueous environments. Older, Noachian-aged, areas are generally characterized by the presence of Fe/Mg phyllosilicates, while younger capping units may display both phyllosilicates and sulfates. Regional differences in mineralogy, hydration, and morphology imply that the aqueous conditions probably varied over time. Advancing our knowledge on the aqueous processes that left their imprint on this area could provide new insight on the past climate and habitability of Mars. Noachian terrains are of particular interest, as they date back to a period which is largely recognized as the most suitable for hosting habitable conditions on the planet.Materials and method: We selected a small crater in the northern part of Meridiani Planum (figure 1), centred at 359.96°E, 2.45°N and approximately 20 km wide. The crater is part of the exposed Noachian-aged terrains of the region and is surrounded to the south and east by younger terrains, which overlie part of its ejecta. Both mineralogical and geomorphological characteristics were investigated using MRO-based instruments CRISM, HiRISE and CTX. Infrared data (1.0-2.6 μm) from CRISM spectrometer was used to assess the mineralogical composition of the terrains inside the crater. This information was then integrated with HiRISE high-resolution camera data to identify and correlate with compositional information the different morphologies within the crater's area. Additionally, images from CTX camera were used to provide surrounding context.Figure 1: CTX image of the region of interest. The green lines trace CRISM footprint, showing the coverage of the spectral data analysed. Results: Phyllosilicates, specifically Fe/Mg-rich smectite clays, are found in a wide area of the crater’s interior. The spectra obtained from CRISM are displayed in figure 2, they show absorption features near 1.4, 1.9, and 2.3 μm, with additional combination tones near 2.4 μm, and sometimes 2.5 μm. The exact position of some bands depends on the relative proportions of Fe and Mg: for example, the 2.3 μm band shifts to shorter wavelengths as Fe is exchanged for Mg [4].We identify two distinct spectral classes for the smectites (Figure 2): the first is compatible with laboratory spectra of Fe-rich smectites, e.g. nontronite, while the second with the spectra of more Mg-rich smectites, such as saponite. The position and shape of the 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 μm features are slightly different for the two classes. Figure 3 shows the absorption details for both CRISM and laboratory spectra.Fe-rich smectites tend to be concentrated in limited areas of the crater, mostly close to its southern border. Further investigation is needed on this point to clarify the reasons for this specific distribution. Figure 2: averaged spectra obtained for the areas which show the presence of Fe/Mg smectites: red is from predominantly Fe-rich smectite areas, green is from Mg-rich areas.Figure 3: (left) Laboratory spectra of Nontronite (Fe-rich smectite) and Saponite (Mg-rich smectite). (right) Absorption details of the spectra from figure 2.The spectral signature of the remaining terrains implies the presence of pyroxenes. Usually, these areas tend to be darker and dunes of a fine-grained material are frequently observed. Terrains which retain signs of hydration show an interesting variety of morphologies, however, a common feature is that they all show polygonal fracture patterns to some extent (figure 4).Figure 4: Cracking patterns on the crater’s hydrated terrains as observed with HiRISE. Approximate location is marked by a plus sign in figure 1.Interpretation and discussion of the results: A possible explanation for the observed cracking patterns is related to desiccation. Desiccation is caused by water evaporation or migration: as a result of the water loss, the terrain shrinks and cracks. Cracking patterns, correlating with the presence of sedimentary materials (e.g. clays or sulfates), are found in various Martian terrains and could be markers of ancient lacustrine environments [5]. The Noachian geologic setting, in association with terrains that show evidence of past aqueous activity, reinforces this hypothesis. Noachian paleo-lakes are a top-priority setting for astrobiological research as they might have been suitable environments to support and preserve traces of microbial life [6]. Nevertheless, a different origin for these features is not ruled out and further investigation is required.Conclusions: Meridiani Planum is undoubtedly an area which was subject to significant water alteration. Fe/Mg smectites detected in the northern Noachian-aged terrains of Meridiani Planum, in association with polygonal fracture patterns, could be related with the existence of ancient paleo-lake environments, making this area an interesting spot for astrobiological research. The information available on these areas is still limited: in order to provide context to MER Opportunity’s observations, previous studies mainly focused on the younger capping terrains lying south of the crater we examined. The results obtained here can be a worthwhile starting point for better understanding the evolutionary history of Meridiani Planum’s oldest terrains. Acknowledgments: Featured camera images were obtained from NASA’s Planetary Data System (PDS).References: [1] Williams et al. (2017) GRL, 44, 1669-1678. [2] Hynek et al. (2002) JGR, 107, 5088. [3] Flahaut et al. (2015) Icarus, 248, 269-288. [4] Viviano-Beck et al. (2014) JGR, 119, 1403-1431. [5] El-Maarry et al. (2014) Icarus, 241, 248-268. [6] Vago et al. (2017) Astrobiology, 17,471-510.

Occator Crater on dwarf planet Ceres hosts the so-called faculae, several areas with material 5 to 10 times the albedo of the average Ceres surface: Cerealia Facula, the brightest and largest, and several smaller faculae, Vinalia Faculae, located on the crater floor. The mineralogy of the whole crater is analyzed in this work. Spectral analysis is performed from data of the VIR instrument on board the Dawn spacecraft. We analyse spectral parameters of all main absorption bands, photometry, and continuum slope. Because most of the absorption features are located in a spectral range affected by thermal emission, we developed a procedure for thermal removal. Moreover, quantitative modeling of the measured spectra is performed with a radiative transfer model in order to retrieve abundance and grain size of the identified minerals. Unlike the average Ceres surface that contains a dark component, Mg-Ca-carbonate, Mg-phyllosilicates, and NH4-phyllosilicates, the faculae contain mainly Na-carbonate, Al-phyllosilicates, and NH4-chloride. The present work establishes unambiguously the presence of NH4-chloride thanks to the high-spatial resolution data. Vinalia and Cerealia Faculae show significant differences in the concentrations of these minerals, which have been analyzed. Moreover, heterogeneities are also found within Cerealia Facula that might reflect different deposition events of bright material. An interesting contrast in grain size is found between the center (10-60 μm) and the crater floor/peripheral part of the faculae (100-130 μm), pointing to different cooling time of the grains, respectively faster and slower, and thus to different times of emplacement. This implies the faculae formation is more recent than the crater impact event, consistent with other observations reported in this special issue. For some ejecta, we derived larger concentrations of minerals producing the absorption bands, and smaller grains with respect to the surrounding terrain. This may be related to heterogeneities in the material pre-existent to the impact event.

We present an analysis of the areal distribution of spectral parameters derived from the VIR imaging spectrometer on board NASA/Dawn spacecraft. Specifically we studied the Occator quadrangle of Ceres, which is bounded by latitudes 22°S to 22°N and longitudes 214°E to 288°E, as part of the overall study of Ceres’ surface composition reported in this special publication. The spectral parameters used are the photometrically corrected reflectance at 1.2 µm, the infrared spectral slope (1.1–1.9 µm), and depths of the absorption bands at 2.7 µm and 3.1 µm that are ascribed to hydrated and ammoniated materials, respectively. We find an overall correlation between 2.7 µm and 3.1 µm band depths, in agreement with Ceres global behavior, and band depths are shallower and the spectral slope is flatter for younger craters, probably due to physical properties of regolith such as grain size. Spectral variations correlated with the tali geological unit also suggest differences in physical properties. The deepest band, indicating enrichment of ammoniated phyllosilicates, are associated with ejecta generated by impacts that occurred in southern quadrangles. The most peculiar region of this quadrangle is the Occator crater (20°N 240°E). The internal crater area contains two faculae, which are the brightest areas on Ceres due to exposure of sodium carbonates, and by two types of ejecta, dark and bright, with different spectral properties, probably due to different formation, evolution or age.

This article presents the spectral parameter maps used in this Surface Composition of Ceres Special Issue. The definition and use of spectral parameters has always played a fundamental role in understanding the properties and composition of a planetary surface. Mapping proper spectral parameters shows the global mineralogical diversity across Ceres. In this work, we discuss the production process of Ceres spectral parameter maps derived by the data of the Visible and Infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR) onboard NASA’s Dawn mission. We describe the data processing of the VIR spectra and the procedure to retrieve the geometries (latitude, longitude and illumination angles) of the acquired data. Spectra and geometries are used to project and mosaic this data to produce Geographic Information System-compatible spectral parameters maps of Ceres. An overview of the variability of the data across the quadrangles is given, addressing the specific analysis to each quadrangle mapping paper included in this special issue.

We studied the distribution in the Urvara–Yalode region of Ceres (latitudes 21–66°S, longitudes 180–360°E) of main spectral parameters derived from the VIR imaging spectrometer onboard the NASA/Dawn spacecraft, as an overall study of Ceres mineralogy reported in this special issue. In particular, we analyzed the distribution of reflectance at 1.2 µm, band depth at 2.7 and 3.1 µm, ascribed to magnesium and ammoniated phyllosilicates, respectively. Whereas the average band depths of this region are lower than eastern longitudes, reflecting the E-W dichotomy of abundance of phyllosilicates on Ceres, spectral variations inside this region are observed in the following units: (a) the central peak of the Urvara crater (45.9°S, 249.2°E, 170 km in diameter), showing a deep 3.1 µm band depth, indicating an ammonium enrichment; (b) the cratered terrain westwards of the Yalode basin (42.3°S, 293.6°E, 260 km in diameter), where absorption bands are deeper, probably due to absence of phyllosilicates depletion following the Yalode impact; (c) the hummocky cratered floor of Yalode and Besua (42.4°S, 300.2°E) craters, characterized by lower albedo and band depths, probably due to different roughness; (d) Consus (21°S 200°E) and Tawals (39.1°S, 238°E) craters, whose albedo and band depths decreasing could be associated to different grain size or abundance of dark materials. Twenty-two small scale (i.e., lower than 400 m) bright spots are observed: because their composition is similar to the Ceres average, a strong mixing may have occurred since their formation.

Ceres has been explored by NASA/Dawn spacecraft, which allowed for the discovery of the main mineralogical and compositional characteristics of Ceres' surface. Here, we use mainly data from the Visible and InfraRed imaging spectrometer (VIR) in order to investigate the main spectral characteristics of the quadrangle Ac-H-2 Coniraya, one of the 15 quads in which Ceres' surface has been divided. Coniraya quadrangle is characterized by the presence of mostly highly degraded impact craters of diameters between 50 and 200 km and clusters of small to midsize impact craters. Although the composition over the quadrangle appears to be quite uniform, significant differences have been detected between different craters by spectral parameters analysis and spectral modeling. Ernutet crater presents two regions with very peculiar band at 3.4 μm, typical of organics aliphatic material. One region result to be correlated with larger amount of carbonates, the other region does not present such correlation. Ikapati crater shows strong absorption bands at 4.0 μm, indicating the presence of Na-carbonates in the floor and ejecta. Ikapati, Gaue and other craters present smaller spectral features of NH4 and/or OH stretching, suggesting a volatile depletion process induced by the heating of the impact event.

This paper focuses on the identification and distribution of compositional units and their stratigraphic relationships in the Fejokoo quadrangle of Ceres (Ac-5) located between 21–66°N and 270–360°E and named after one of its prominent and well-preserved impact craters, Fejokoo (centered at 26°N and 312°E). In this quadrangle, we observed that hydroxylated- (OH-rich) and ammoniated- (NH4-rich) phyllosilicates are present everywhere, in various abundances; low abundance is observed on bright terrains and higher abundances are observed on lobate materials associated with craters. Carbonates are mostly correlated with the high-albedo areas surrounding Oxo (359.7°E, 42.2°N) and other major craters, and are mixed with Ceres’ most common surface composition type (i.e. low albedo, phyllosilicate-rich material). There are a few locations where carbonates and phyllosilicates co-exist, indicating a range of geological or chemical processes produced them in co-existence. No correlation between the surface composition and the age of the craters was found. Instead, the composition observed on impact craters depends on the size of the impact and the composition of the different stratigraphic layers excavated. The compositional interpretation inferred from Dawn's visible-infrared spectrometer data of the Fejokoo quadrangle is consistent with the presence of an internal ocean that produced carbonates and phyllosilicates via aqueous alteration of minerals.

Mineralogical maps of the Ac-H-11 Sintana and the Ac-H-12 Toharu quadrangles of the dwarf planet Ceres were produced in order to access the composition of this planetary body. We used data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, in particular the spectra returned by VIR, the imaging spectrometer on board. Different spectral parameters in the infrared range have been computed to study the composition of this portion of Ceres’ surface and its large and small scale variability. We studied the variation and distribution of the phyllosilicate bands at 2.73 µm and 3.07 µm, the reflectance at 1.2 µm, and the overall spectrum in specific locations. We did not observe variations of the center of the bands at 2.73 µm and 3.07 µm, with the exception of a few pixels in the Kupalo crater. We found that this southern region, extending from 0° to 180° and from 21°S to 66°S, show an overall increase of phyllosilicate band intensity from the equatorial areas to the southern areas. Superimposed to the large-scale trend, we observe many smaller localized variations of band intensity. The observed variations can indicate large and small-scale heterogeneities in the abundance of the different species in the Ceres subsurface. However, the small-scale variation that is mostly associated with young craters, can be also due to processes related with impacts, such as de-hydration or delivery of exogenous material that, mixed with the original surface, could change the band intensity. Several craters, such as Kupalo and Juling, show a different composition with respect to the background, displaying water ice and sodium carbonates.

Quadrangle Ac-H-08 Nawish is located in the equatorial region of Ceres (Lat 22°S-22°N, Lon 144°E- 216°E), and it has variable mineralogy and geology. Here, we report on the mineralogy using spectra from the Visible and InfraRed (VIR) mapping spectrometer onboard the NASA Dawn mission. This quadrangle has two generally different regions: the cratered highlands of the central and eastern sector, and the eastern lowlands. We find this dichotomy is also associated with differences in the NH4-phyllosilicates distribution. The highlands, in the eastern part of the quadrangle, appear depleted in NH4-phyllosilicates, conversely to the lowlands, in the north-western side. The Mg-phyllosilicates distribution is quite homogeneous across Nawish quadrangle, except for few areas. The 2.7 µm band depth is lower in the south-eastern part, e.g. in the Azacca ejecta and Consus crater ejecta, and the band depth is greatest for the Nawish crater ejecta, and indicates the highest content of Mg-phyllosilicates of the entire quadrangle. Our analysis finds an interesting relationship between geology, mineralogy, topography, and the age in this quadrangle. The cratered terrains in the highlands, poor in NH4 phyllosilicates, are older (2 Ga). Conversely, the smooth terrain, such as with Vindimia Planitia, is richer in ammonia-bearing phyllosilicates and is younger (1 Ga). At the local scale, Ac-H-8 Nawish, displays several interesting mineralogical features, such as at Nawish crater, Consus crater, Dantu and Azzacca ejecta, which exhibit localized Na-carbonates deposits. This material is superimposed on the cratered terrains and smooth terrains and shows the typical depletion of phyllosilicates, already observed on Ceres in the presence of Na-carbonates.

We studied the surface composition of Ceres within the limits of the Ezinu quadrangle in the ranges 180–270°E and 21–66°N by analyzing data from Dawn's visible and near-infrared data from the Visible and InfraRed mapping spectrometer and from multispectral images from the Framing Camera. Our analysis includes the distribution of hydroxylated minerals, ammoniated phyllosilicates, carbonates, the search for organic materials and the characterization of physical properties of the regolith. The surface of this quadrangle is largely homogenous, except for small, high-albedo carbonate-rich areas, and one zone on dark, lobate materials on the floor of Occator, which constitute the main topics of investigation. (1) Carbonate-rich surface compositions are associated with H2O ice rich crust. Weaker absorption bands of hydroxylated and ammoniated minerals over the carbonate-rich areas can be explained by higher abundances of carbonates at the topmost surface. (2) Dark, smooth lobate materials at the foot of Occator's northeastern wall possibly reveal fresh slumping of phyllosilicate-rich materials with fine grain size, or local enrichment in carbon-rich materials such as tholins. (3) The deeper absorption band depth of OH and NH4, on the rim of several impact craters, is one observation that is consistent with a stratification of the phyllosilicate abundance that has been inferred previously from global investigations.

Dawn is the first spacecraft to visit and orbit Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt and the only dwarf planet in the inner Solar System. The Dawn science team undertook a systematic geologic mapping campaign of Ceres’ entire surface. Here we present our contribution to this mapping campaign, a geologic map and geologic history of the Ezinu quadrangle, located in the northern mid latitudes from 21–66° N and 180–270° E. From our map, we reconstruct the geologic history of Ezinu quadrangle, which is dominated by impact cratering. Large impact craters that formed a few hundreds to tens of millions of years ago, such as Datan, Messor, Ninsar and Occator, are surrounded by ejecta and contain the products of mass wasting (hummocky crater floor material and talus material) and crater-wall collapse (terrace material). Two of these large impact craters are the sources of lobate flows, which we interpret as melt flows emplaced after the ballistically deposited ejecta. Morphological evidence suggests these lobate flows are rich in water–ice-bearing material that was excavated during the formation of the impact craters. There are only a few localized occurrences of lobate flows, suggesting that the water–ice-bearing source materials have restricted extents and/or are deeply buried within Ceres’ subsurface. The quadrangle also contains a variety of linear features: secondary crater chains are formed by the impact of locally and globally sourced material and pit chains and grooves are formed by the collapse of surficial materials into sub-surface fractures. The Ezinu quadrangle contains the northern portion of Occator crater, which is the host crater of prominent bright regions called faculae. Our geologic analysis therefore also provides context for the future investigation of Occator and its intriguing faculae.

We conducted a geologic mapping investigation of Dawn spacecraft data to determine the geologic history of the Kerwan impact basin region of dwarf planet Ceres, which is mostly located in the Ac-7 Kerwan Quadrangle. Geological mapping was applied to Dawn Framing Camera images from the Low Altitude Mapping Orbit (LAMO, 35 m/pixel) and supplemented by digital terrain models and color images from the High Altitude Mapping Orbit (HAMO, 135 m/pixel), as well as preliminary Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (VIR) and gravity data. The 284-km diameter Kerwan impact basin is the oldest unequivocal impact crater on Ceres, and has a highly discontinuous, polygonal, degraded rim and contains a ‘smooth’ unit that both fills the basin floor and surrounds the degraded rim to the west, south, and east. Although there are some subtle topographic features in the Kerwan basin that could be interpreted as flow boundaries, there is no indisputable evidence of cryovolcanic features in or around the basin (however if such features existed they could be buried). Nevertheless, all data point to impact-induced melting of a cerean crust enriched in a volatile, likely water ice, to produce the Kerwan smooth material. Subsequent geologic activity in this region includes emplacement of impact craters such as Dantu, which produced a variety of colorful deposits, and rayed craters such as Rao and Cacaguat. Based on the crater size-frequency distribution absolute model ages of the Kerwan smooth material in and around the basin, marking a minimum age for the Kerwan basin, our mapping defines this as the oldest boundary within the cerean geologic timescale, separating the Pre-Kerwanan and Kerwanan Periods at > 1.3 Ga (Lunar-derived chronology model) or > 230–850 Ma (Asteroid-derived chronology model, depending on strength of target material).

Monitoring of vibrational eigenmodes of an elastic body excited by gravitational waves was one of the first concepts proposed for the detection of gravitational waves. At laboratory scale, these experiments became known as resonant-bar detectors first developed by Joseph Weber in the 1960s. Due to the dimensions of these bars, the targeted signal frequencies were in the kHz range. Weber also pointed out that monitoring of vibrations of Earth or Moon could reveal gravitational waves in the mHz band. His Lunar Surface Gravimeter experiment deployed on the Moon by the Apollo 17 crew had a technical failure rendering the data useless. In this article, we revisit the idea and propose a Lunar Gravitational-Wave Antenna (LGWA). We find that LGWA could become an important partner observatory for joint observations with the space-borne, laser-interferometric detector LISA, and at the same time contribute an independent science case due to LGWA's unique features. Technical challenges need to be overcome for the deployment of the experiment, and development of inertial vibration sensor technology lays out a future path for this exciting detector concept., 29 pages, 17 figures

Oxia Planum (OP), located at the transition between the ancient terrain of Arabia Terra and the low lying basin of Chryse Planitia, will be the landing site for the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Programme’s 2022 mission [1]. The descent module and landing platform, Kazachock, will transport the Rosalind Franklin Rover to search for signs of past and present life on Mars, and investigate the geochemical environment in the shallow subsurface over a 211-sol nominal mission.OP forms a shallow basin, open to the north, characterized by clay-bearing bedrock, and episodic geological activity spans from the ~mid-Noachian to ~early Amazonian in age [2,3,4]. Building a thorough understanding of Oxia Planum prior to operations will provide testable hypotheses that facilitate interpretation of results, and hence provide an effective approach to address the mission’s science objectives. To this end, we have run a detailed group mapping campaign at HiRISE-scale using the Multi-Mission Geographic Information System (MMGIS) [5], co-registered HRSC [6], CaSSIS and HiRISE mosaics [7], and 116 1km2 quads covering the 1-sigma landing ellipse envelope. Complementary CTX-scale mapping covers the wider area around the landing site and is described elsewhere [8].Throughout 2020, 84 mapping volunteers associated with the mission’s Rover Science Operations Working Group followed a pre-formulated programme of training, familiarisation and mapping. With the mapping phase complete, a small sub-team are focused on map reconciliation phase, comprising data cleaning and science decision making. The process will culminate in map finalisation and submission for publication, and use in activities to plan rover science activities.This campaign yields important advances for overall science readiness of the ExoMars 2022 mission:Team experience working, communicating and learning together, valuable for operations. Building team knowledge of the landing site, and the main scientific interpretations. Curated datasets and software available for team use in ongoing planning. High-resolution map data representing our geologic understanding of Oxia Planum. This is an input to ongoing RSOWG work to construct the mission strategic plan, which provides science traceability from mission objectives to rover activities.Acknowledgments: We thank Fred Calef and Tariq Soliman at JPL for their support regarding MMGIS.References: [1] Vago, J. L. et al., (2017) Astrobiology 17 (6–7), 471–510. [2] Carter, J. et al., (2013) J. Geophys. Res. 118 (4), 831–858. [3] Quantin-Nataf, C. et al., (2021) Astrobiol. 21 (3), doi:10.1089/ast.2019.2191. [4] Fawdon P. et al., (2019) LPSC50 #2132. [5] Calef, F. J. et al., (2019) in 4th Planet. Data Work., Vol. 2151. [6] Gwinner, K. et al., (2016) Planet. Space Sci. 126, 93–138. [7] Volat, M. et al., (2020), EPSC, #564. [8] Hauber, E. et al. (2021), LPSC52.

The Geologic Mapping of Planetary Bodies (GMAP) project Integrates partners and outputs from two projects previously funded by the EU through Horizon 2020 (UPWARDS and PLANMAP) to deliver tools and services for geological mapping of any Solar System body. Started in 2020, GMAP is developing an infrastructure to support future European missions in developing orbital acquisition strategies, rover deployment and traverses, and human exploration programs. Part of GMAP deals with the study of current procedures for publishing planetary maps, and the development of new ones. Since the Apollo era, geologic maps of the Moon and bodies of the solar system have been produced and disseminated by the United Stated Geologic Survey, Astrogeology Program, funded by NASA. Being both USGS and NASA governmental organization of the same country, the coordination and the production of planetary maps followed a straightforward development from the beginning to the digital-era. In their digital form, the US maps have been made available under the public domain.At the international level, every country has its own space agency or office but no public domain planetary maps have been systematically made available yet in re-usable formats outside the US. In Europe, space programs can be either promoted by European Space Agency or by any one of the participating states' space agencies, which is not necessarily an EU member. This is not ideal for a coordinated work for geoscientific mapping or dissemination of unified planetary mapping products.Within GMAP we are surveying existing licensing models, looking for a licensing system that guarantees dissemination and the re-use of planetary mapping, the maximum compatibility with the existing dataset and protects original creator rights. We will report the status of our study and plans for the future.

We present the geography of Oxia Planum, the landing site for the ExoMars 2022 mission. This map provides the planetary science community with a framework to understand this, until recently, unexplored area. The map comprises (1) a mosaic of the panchromatic Context Camera (CTX) Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and Ortho Rectified Images (ORI) controlled to the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) multiorbit Digital Elevation Models (DEM) and (2) a mosaic of Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) synthetic colour data products, registered to the CTX ORI mosaic. We define a grid of exploration quadrangles (quads) and an informal group of geographic regions to describe Oxia Planum. These regions bridge the scale gap between features observed on large areas (���100s km2) and the local geography (10s km2) relevant to the Rosalind Franklin rover���s operations in Oxia Planum.