Scientific integration and exploitation of ExoMars PanCam, ISEM and CLUPI

The question of whether or not there is life elsewhere in our solar system, and indeed the Universe, is a fundamental question that has challenged scientists for centuries. Space exploration over the past 60 years has shown our solar system to host a huge diversity of environments, and Mars in particular has been the focus of much exploration in the past 10 years. Mars is one of the most promising places to begin the search for extraterrestrial microbial life. Searching for evidence of life is a challenging task, and one that is guided by conducting research on environments on Earth that have similar rocks and soils to those on Mars, so-called 'analogue' environments. This project will prepare three instruments on the upcoming 2018 European Space Agency's ExoMars rover, in which the UK is playing a major role. These instruments are the Panoramic Camera (PanCam, the 'eyes' of the rover), Close-Up Imager (CLUPI, macro images), and Infrared Spectrometer for ExoMars (ISEM, mineralogy of rocks and soils). ExoMars has the main goal of searching for evidence of microbial life preserved within subsurface rocks sampled via a 2 m drill - the first mission of its kind. Data from these three instruments will be used to decide where ExoMars should drill and look for biosignatures. They will also reveal what the surrounding rocks and minerals can tell us about the ancient environment that deposited them billions of years ago. We will develop the scientific knowledge and technical skills necessary to interpret these datasets effectively once they are returned from Mars. For this, we will take PanCam, CLUPI, and ISEM instruments to Mars analogue sites on Earth ranging from sediments in Iceland and Chile, to 3.5 billion year old rocks in Australia, and use this field data to investigate the scientific capability of these instruments, and develop the software tools needed for analysis by the scientific community. Ultimately this project will contribute to the on-going international effort to search for evidence of life on the Red Planet.