# MaMISS
**MaMISS** (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies) is a miniaturized visible and near-infrared (VNIR) spectrometer built into the drill of the [European Space Agency](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-space-agency)'s ExoMars rover [Rosalind Franklin](https://www.edgepedia.org/rosalind-franklin), designed to image the mineralogy of the walls of the borehole it drills to a depth of 2 m on Mars[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f) • [2](https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/psa/exomars_rsp). It is funded and coordinated by the [Italian Space Agency](https://www.edgepedia.org/italian-space-agency) (ASI), with scientific supervision at INAF-IAPS in Rome and industrial construction by Leonardo S.p.A.[3](https://www.asi.it/2022/02/test-di-successo-per-ma_miss-lo-spettrometro-italiano-di-exomars/). Because it observes rock in place, at the bottom of a 2 m hole, it will make the deepest compositional measurements yet planned on Mars[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Instrument | VNIR point spectrometer inside the drill tip of the ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin, observing the borehole wall at 120 μm spatial resolution[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f) |
| Spectral performance | 0.4–2.3 μm range, 364 channels, 5.3 nm sampling, FWHM 37 nm below 1000 nm and 17–23 nm above, signal-to-noise ratio above 100[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f) |
| Depth reach | Drill reaches 2 m with a 2.5 cm-diameter main rod plus three 50 cm extension rods; the observation window sits about 20 cm above the drill tip[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f) • [4](https://explorationscience.esa.int/project/exomars-rosalind-franklin-rfm/) |
| Imaging mode | Ring and column hyperspectral images built by drill rotation (0.47° minimum step, up to 765 points per ring) and vertical steps below 2 mm[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f) |
| Mass and power | Spectrometer 0.87 kg, peak power 22.8 W at 0°C; drill system 21 kg and 80 W[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f) • [5](https://electronics.leonardo.com/documents/16277707/18418358/ExoMars_LQ_mm07795_.pdf?t=1538987564303) |
| Origin | Concept from 2001; developed by SELEX Galileo/Leonardo under Principal Investigator Angioletta Coradini (INAF, Rome), ASI-funded[6](https://websites.umich.edu/~atreya/Proceds/2001_MA_MISS.pdf) • [7](https://doi.org/10.1117/12.887337) |
| Mission status | Halted in April 2022 before launch from Baikonur; redesigned without Roscosmos; launch planned October–December 2028 from Kennedy Space Center, landing at Oxia Planum in 2030[8](https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/ExoMars/FAQ_The_rebirth_of_ESA_s_ExoMars_Rosalind_Franklin_mission) • [9](https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Press_Releases/ESA_to_search_for_life_on_Mars_with_ExoMars_Rosalind_Franklin_mission) |
## Measurement principle and design
MaMISS investigates the subsurface in its original geologic context before sample collection[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f). The optical head sits inside the drill tip, behind a sapphire window located about 20 cm above the tip[4](https://explorationscience.esa.int/project/exomars-rosalind-franklin-rfm/). As the drill penetrates, the window faces the freshly cut borehole wall, and the instrument records light from its 5 W lamp reflected by the borehole wall in visible and near-infrared wavelengths[4](https://explorationscience.esa.int/project/exomars-rosalind-franklin-rfm/) • [10](https://www.iaps.inaf.it/en/progetti-di-ricerca/ma_miss) • [19](https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f). The spectrometer itself, with its proximity electronics, sits in the upper Drill Unit; the optical signal travels from the window through optical fibers running inside the drill string[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f). Each of the three extension rods, about 500 mm long, carries electrical and optical contacts so the signal passes uninterrupted as the string grows to 2 m[4](https://explorationscience.esa.int/project/exomars-rosalind-franklin-rfm/).
A tungsten halogen lamp illuminates a spot on the wall, and the drill's rotation and vertical translation build up ring and column hyperspectral images: a ring is one full circle of points at a fixed depth, a column is a vertical strip[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f). The drill's minimum angular resolution of 0.47° allows up to 765 measurement points per ring, with vertical steps smaller than 2 mm[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f). Ma_MISS operates periodically during pauses in drilling activity rather than while the bit is turning[11](https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2020/EPSC2020-348.html).
The field of view is a circle 120 μm in diameter, at a focal distance of 0.6 mm from the sapphire window[12](http://spiftp.esac.esa.int/data/SPICE/ExoMarsRFM/kernels/ik/emrfm_rm_mamiss_v001.ti). The design demanded unusual miniaturization: monolithic optics and fiber-optic connectors that mate and de-mate automatically as the rover robotically assembles the drill elements on Mars[7](https://doi.org/10.1117/12.887337).
## Science objectives
MaMISS addresses four stated objectives: determining the composition of subsurface materials, mapping the distribution of subsurface H₂O and hydrated phases, characterizing optical and physical properties such as grain size, and producing a stratigraphic column of the landing site[11](https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2020/EPSC2020-348.html). The 2 m depth matters for habitability science because the ExoMars drill obtains samples from depths where organic molecules can be well preserved from radiation[13](https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5685153/table/T1/).
In the 0.4–2.3 μm range, MaMISS recognizes the major spectral features of the clays, basaltic phases, and minor phases expected at the landing site, [Oxia Planum](https://www.edgepedia.org/oxia-planum), and is sensitive to olivine and pyroxene crystal chemistry and to iron oxidation state through Fe(II)/Fe(III) absorptions[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f). Mapping compositional gradients, weathering fronts, and diagenetic features as a function of depth is the instrument's central measurement[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f).
## Why in-situ subsurface spectroscopy
Every sample the rover analyzes on board is crushed first, and crushing is destructive in a specific way: once samples are prepared for the Analytical Laboratory Drawer, they lose their original grain size, matrix, and texture, and any stratigraphic structure is dismantled[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f). Ma_MISS investigates the subsurface in its original geologic context before sample collection, and it is the only contact instrument that can interrogate the very layers from which a sample is obtained[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f) • [4](https://explorationscience.esa.int/project/exomars-rosalind-franklin-rfm/).
Temperature adds a second check. The subsurface averages about −60°C, much colder than a sample will experience after extraction to the rover deck, so borehole measurements allow scientists to test whether extracted samples changed on their way up[4](https://explorationscience.esa.int/project/exomars-rosalind-franklin-rfm/).
## How it compares with other ExoMars instruments
The rover payload divides the work by distance from the target. ISEM, a mast-mounted infrared spectrometer, determines the major mineral composition of distant rocks, outcrops, and soils and works with PanCam to select which samples to drill[2](https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/psa/exomars_rsp). Ma_MISS then provides mineralogical context inside the borehole before anything is taken[2](https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/psa/exomars_rsp). After the drill delivers crushed material to the Analytical Laboratory Drawer, MicrOmega, a visible and infrared imaging spectrometer, identifies the mineralogical and molecular composition at grain scale non-destructively and locates grains of interest for Raman and MOMA analysis[2](https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/psa/exomars_rsp).
## Development, calibration and testing
The concept dates to at least 2001, when a drilling system coupled with an in-situ analysis package was designed for the ExoMars-Pasteur rover to investigate up to 2 m in the Mars soil[6](https://websites.umich.edu/~atreya/Proceds/2001_MA_MISS.pdf). The experiment was coordinated by Principal Investigator Angioletta Coradini of IFSI-INAF in Rome, funded by the Italian Space Agency, and built by SELEX Galileo[7](https://doi.org/10.1117/12.887337). The current Principal Investigator is Maria Cristina De Sanctis of IASF, INAF, Italy[14](https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Swiss_contributions_on-board_the_ExoMars_rover).
**Calibration.** A laboratory breadboard was used extensively for spectral acquisitions of anhydrous and hydrated silicates, phyllosilicates, carbonates, oxyhydroxides, sulfates, phosphates, and organic compounds[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f). Part of the flight-model characterization took place in April 2018 at the Leonardo calibration facility in Florence, with the detector at −50°C in a thermo-vacuum chamber, using three natural samples: a slab of dunite, a slab of Montiferru (Bonàrcado) vesicular basalt, and a slab of gypsum[1](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f). Two peer-reviewed pre-launch campaigns followed: a spectral calibration determining pixel central wavelengths, spectral response function, spectral resolution, sampling, and range[15](https://pubs.aip.org/aip/rsi/article/93/12/123704/2845420/The-pre-launch-on-ground-characterization-of-Mars), and a radiometric calibration determining the Spectrometer Transfer Function (responsivity), signal-to-noise ratio, and detector linearity[16](https://pubs.aip.org/aip/rsi/article/94/9/094501/2908724/The-pre-launch-on-ground-characterization-of-Ma).
**System-level testing.** The Flight Model was integrated on the rover and tested during 2019–2020, both with drill movement (Acquisition type C) and without drill motion (Acquisition type A)[17](https://openaccess.inaf.it/entities/publication/71b2489d-3fed-4ac2-a413-34addbdd3e9c). Functional qualification tests were held successfully in Turin on 17–18 January 2022, rehearsing the commissioning sequence to be run on Mars after landing; the tests were conducted by [Thales Alenia Space](https://www.edgepedia.org/thales-alenia-space), Leonardo, and INAF[3](https://www.asi.it/2022/02/test-di-successo-per-ma_miss-lo-spettrometro-italiano-di-exomars/). A laboratory setup named DAVIS (Drill for Analogues and Visible Infrared Spectrometer) was also developed to reproduce Ma_MISS operations, drilling holes in Martian analog rocks and performing spectrometric measurements inside them[18](https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2022/pdf/1353.pdf).
## Mission status and recent developments
The spacecraft was ready to move to the launch campaign in [Baikonur](https://www.edgepedia.org/baikonur) in April 2022, but the campaign was halted because of the invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent termination of cooperation with [Roscosmos](https://www.edgepedia.org/roscosmos); flight hardware is being returned to former partners, and ESA must develop replacements for the Roscosmos-provided elements[8](https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/ExoMars/FAQ_The_rebirth_of_ESA_s_ExoMars_Rosalind_Franklin_mission). In the redesigned mission the rover is European, the launch is planned between October and December 2028 from the [Kennedy Space Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/kennedy-space-center) in Florida[9](https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Press_Releases/ESA_to_search_for_life_on_Mars_with_ExoMars_Rosalind_Franklin_mission), and the new landing platform carries neither dedicated solar arrays nor its own science complement, ceasing to operate a few sols after the rover deploys[8](https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/ExoMars/FAQ_The_rebirth_of_ESA_s_ExoMars_Rosalind_Franklin_mission). The earliest launch opportunity, 2028, gives a two-year transfer and a 2030 landing, timed so at least six months of operations occur before the martian dust season[8](https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/ExoMars/FAQ_The_rebirth_of_ESA_s_ExoMars_Rosalind_Franklin_mission). The landing site is Oxia Planum, at the eastern margin of the Chryse basin near 18°N[4](https://explorationscience.esa.int/project/exomars-rosalind-franklin-rfm/).
The science plan anticipates 6 Experiment Cycles and 2 Vertical Surveys, with the Vertical Surveys acquiring samples at 50 cm intervals from 0 to 2 m depth[4](https://explorationscience.esa.int/project/exomars-rosalind-franklin-rfm/).
## References
1. [Exploring the Shallow Subsurface of Mars with the Ma_MISS Spectrometer on the ExoMars Rover Rosalind Franklin, The Planetary Science Journal](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f)
2. [COSMOS ExoMars RSP, ESA Planetary Science Archive](https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/psa/exomars_rsp)
3. [Test di successo per Ma_MISS, lo spettrometro italiano di ExoMars, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana](https://www.asi.it/2022/02/test-di-successo-per-ma_miss-lo-spettrometro-italiano-di-exomars/)
4. [ExoMars Rosalind Franklin (RFM), ESA Exploration Science](https://explorationscience.esa.int/project/exomars-rosalind-franklin-rfm/)
5. [Leonardo ExoMars Drill System datasheet](https://electronics.leonardo.com/documents/16277707/18418358/ExoMars_LQ_mm07795_.pdf?t=1538987564303)
6. [MA_MISS: Mars multispectral imager for subsurface studies (2001 proceedings)](https://websites.umich.edu/~atreya/Proceds/2001_MA_MISS.pdf)
7. [Challenging design and development of Ma_Miss, a miniaturised spectrometric instrument for Mars sub-soil analysis, SPIE](https://doi.org/10.1117/12.887337)
8. [FAQ: The 'rebirth' of ESA's ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission, ESA](https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/ExoMars/FAQ_The_rebirth_of_ESA_s_ExoMars_Rosalind_Franklin_mission)
9. [ESA to search for life on Mars with ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission, ESA press release](https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Press_Releases/ESA_to_search_for_life_on_Mars_with_ExoMars_Rosalind_Franklin_mission)
10. [Ma_MISS, INAF-IAPS](https://www.iaps.inaf.it/en/progetti-di-ricerca/ma_miss)
11. [EPSC2020-348: Ma_MISS science objectives abstract](https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2020/EPSC2020-348.html)
12. [ESA SPICE kernel: Ma_MISS instrument kernel](http://spiftp.esac.esa.int/data/SPICE/ExoMarsRFM/kernels/ik/emrfm_rm_mamiss_v001.ti)
13. [ExoMars instrument table, PubMed Central](https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5685153/table/T1/)
14. [Swiss contributions on-board the ExoMars rover, ESA](https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Swiss_contributions_on-board_the_ExoMars_rover)
15. [The pre-launch on-ground characterization of Ma_MISS spectrometer: Spectral calibration, Review of Scientific Instruments (2022)](https://pubs.aip.org/aip/rsi/article/93/12/123704/2845420/The-pre-launch-on-ground-characterization-of-Mars)
16. [The pre-launch on-ground characterization of Ma_MISS spectrometer. II. Radiometric calibration, Review of Scientific Instruments (2023)](https://pubs.aip.org/aip/rsi/article/94/9/094501/2908724/The-pre-launch-on-ground-characterization-of-Ma)
17. [MA_MISS FM test campaign at rover level, INAF open access](https://openaccess.inaf.it/entities/publication/71b2489d-3fed-4ac2-a413-34addbdd3e9c)
18. [DAVIS: Laboratory Drill and Ma_MISS setup for analogue measurements, LPSC 2022](https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2022/pdf/1353.pdf)
19. [doi.org](https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ac694f)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineering and manufacturing › Robotics and automation › Field and agricultural robots › Planetary rovers and science instruments*
*Initially written Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license