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.

Weathering steel, and particularly CorTen steel, is a very used material for modern artworks exhibited outdoors. One of the characteristic that makes this material so attractive to artists is the property to develop a protective rust layer composed by iron oxides which preserves its metallic core from atmospheric corrosion. This study was conducted to evaluate the conservation state of four CorTen sculptures by Eduardo Chillida, located in different places of Bilbao city (north of Spain) and affected by different factors (environmental among others) by using Raman spectroscopy. Measurements were performed in situ with a handheld Raman spectrometer mounted on a tripod with x–y–z axes motorization at the micron level. The most common oxyhydroxides detected were lepidocrocite (γ‐FeO(OH)), goethite (α‐FeO(OH)), hematite ( ‐Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4), being goethite the most stable phase. All the iron oxyhydroxides were identified in all of the studied sculptures but their relative amounts were different for each sculpture. The consequences of the marine aerosols exposure in the steel surface were also studied, detecting limonite (FeO(OH)·nH2O) and akaganeite (β‐FeO(OH)). The results confirmed that the evolution of the rust layer present on the analyzed weathering steels is different, depending both on the exposure and the particular type of the steel. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study proposes an innovative approach to semi-quantify the main iron corrosion phases found in corrosion systems of archaeological artefacts. This method is based on the treatment of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) data using a homemade spectra decomposition software (PALME). Its application was first tested on mixtures of pure iron corrosion standards. After optimization, it was used to study real archaeological samples and evaluate the stability of their corrosion system. Considering that reliable and repetitive results were reached using extremely small quantities of material, this method can be particularly suitable for the study of iron-based objects of cultural interest.

Weathering steel was designed to resist against the atmospheric impact due to the development of a characteristic rust layer that protects the metal by reducing the corrosion rate. This rust layer is formed by different iron (oxy‐hydr)oxides that acts as a barrier and provides the protective ability. In order to check the conservation state trough the protective capability, it is necessary to calculate the so‐called protective ability index (PAI). It mainly takes into account the ratio (α/γ) between the mass of goethite (α‐FeOOH) and lepidocrocite (γ‐FeOOH), present in the rust layer of weathering steel. Raman spectroscopy, apart from a qualitative technique, is recently becoming a semi quantitative approach. Therefore, it is a valuable tool for the calculation of the mentioned index. This paper is a widening of a previous work in which it was uncovered a problem in different weathering steel sculptures which are exposed to a Cl− and SO2‐rich urban atmosphere because they present different esthetical problems on their surfaces, such as detachments of steel chips, discolorations and irregularities. In order to relate these problems on the surface and the rust layer composition, PAI calculations were performed from the phase identification obtained from Raman imaging and using spectra decomposition to quantify each compounds. Although goethite and lepidocrocite were the most commonly detected compounds, hematite, akaganeite and magnetite were also identified. Hematite is a sub product formed in rich SO2 atmospheres; therefore, a PAI with its content is proposed. Protective indexes obtained for the different artworks exposed in different places provide quantitative clues for the conservation diagnosis of weathering steel structures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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