SuperCam is a highly integrated remote-sensing instrumental suite for NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. It consists of a co-aligned combination of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Time-Resolved Raman and Luminescence (TRR/L), Visible and Infrared Spectroscopy (VISIR), together with sound recording (MIC) and high-magnification imaging techniques (RMI). They provide information on the mineralogy, geochemistry and mineral context around the Perseverance Rover.The calibration of this complex suite is a major challenge. Not only does each technique require its own standards or references, their combination also introduces new requirements to obtain optimal scientific output. Elemental composition, molecular vibrational features, fluorescence, morphology and texture provide a full picture of the sample with spectral information that needs to be co-aligned, correlated, and individually calibrated.The resulting hardware includes different kinds of targets, each one covering different needs of the instrument. Standards for imaging calibration, geological samples for mineral identification and chemometric calculations or spectral references to calibrate and evaluate the health of the instrument, are all included in the SuperCam Calibration Target (SCCT). The system also includes a specifically designed assembly in which the samples are mounted. This hardware allows the targets to survive the harsh environmental conditions of the launch, cruise, landing and operation on Mars during the whole mission. Here we summarize the design, development, integration, verification and functional testing of the SCCT. This work includes some key results obtained to verify the scientific outcome of the SuperCam system.

Raman and laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) spectroscopies will play an important role in planetary exploration missions in the following years, not only with Raman instruments like Raman laser spectrometer on board of Rosalid Franklin Rover or scanning habitable environments with Raman and luminescence for organics and chemicals on board Mars2020 Rover but also with combined instruments such as SuperCam. These techniques will be part of the upcoming planetary exploration missions because they can provide complementary information from the analysed sample while potentially sharing hardware components, maximizing the scientific return of the samples while limiting mass. In this framework, this study seeks to test the feasibility of combining several univariate and multivariate analysis techniques with data fusion techniques of different instruments (532 and 785 nm Raman and LIBS) to evaluate the improvements in the quantitative classification of samples in binary mixtures. We prepared two‐component mixtures that are potentially relevant in planetary exploration missions, using two different sulfates and a chloride. A more accurate classification of the samples is possible through a univariate analysis that combines the calculated concentration indicators for Raman and LIBS. On the other hand, multivariate analysis was run on Raman, LIBS, and Raman + LIBS low‐level fused data sets. The results showed a better improvement when fusing LIBS and Raman when compared with the redundant fusion but not a systematic improvement when compared with individual sets. We demonstrate that a quantification of the mineral abundances in binary mixtures can be obtained from Raman and LIBS data using univariate and multivariate analysis techniques, being the latter remarkably better, moving from performances of classification, in the whole range of concentrations, that could be over the 10% to values under 3.5%. Furthermore, the fusion of data coming from these techniques improves the classification limit with respect to the individual techniques. Thus, besides the (evident) hardware convenience of combining LIBS with 532‐nm Raman, there could be analytical advantages as well.

The multianalytical study of terrestrial analogues is a useful strategy to deepen the knowledge about the geological and environmental evolution of Mars and other extraterrestrial bodies. In spite of the increasing importance that laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIR), and Raman techniques are acquiring in the field of space exploration, there is a lack Web‐based platform providing free access to a wide multispectral database of terrestrial analogue materials. The Planetary Terrestrial Analogues Library (PTAL) project aims at responding to this critical need by developing and providing free Web accessibility to LIBS, NIR, and Raman data from more than 94 terrestrial analogues selected according to their congruence with Martian geological contexts. In this framework, the present manuscript provides the scientific community with a complete overview of the over 4,500 Raman spectra collected to feed the PTAL database. Raman data, obtained through the complementary use of laboratory and spacecraft‐simulator systems, confirmed the effectiveness of this spectroscopic technique for the detection of major and minor mineralogical phases of the samples, the latter being of critical importance for the recognition of geological processes that could have occurred on Mars and other planets. In light of the forthcoming missions to Mars, the results obtained through the Raman Laser Spectrometer (RLS) ExoMars Simulator offer a valuable insight on the scientific outcome that could derive from the RLS spectrometer that will soon land on Mars as part of the ExoMars rover payload.

The Mars2020/Perseverance and ExoMars/Rosalind Franklin rovers are both slated to return the first Raman spectra ever collected from another planetary surface, Mars. In order to optimize the rovers scientific outcome, the scientific community needs to be provided with tailored tools for data treatment and interpretation. Responding to this need, the purpose of the Analytical Database of Martian Minerals (ADaMM) project is to build an extended multianalytical database of mineral phases that have been detected on Mars or are expected to be found at the landing sites where the two rovers will operate. Besides the use of conventional spectrometers, the main objective of the ADaMM database is to provide access to data collected by means of laboratory prototypes simulating the analytical performances of the spectroscopic systems onboard the Mars 2020 and ExoMars rovers. Planned to be released to the public in 2022, ADaMM will also provide access to data treatment and visualization tools developed in the framework of the mentioned space exploration missions. As such, the present work seeks to provide an overview of the ADaMM online platform, spectral tools, and mineral collection. In addition to that, the manuscript describes the Raman spectrometers used to analyze the mineral collection and presents a representative example of the analytical performance ensured by the Raman prototypes assembled to simulate the Raman Laser Spectrometer (RLS) and SuperCam systems.