The GEOS experiment onboard AMADEE24 crewed simulated mission to Mars

During the AMADEE24 mission in Armenia, the GEOS experiment focuses on geologic survey activities at the simulated Martian landing site.  GEOS applies classic geological field survey methods to a simulated mission to Mars, drawing on the experience of the lunar field survey built by Apollo missions.

The elements of GEOS are the mapping, the sampling, and the compositional measurements.  

The mapping phase involves developing mission-specific cartography from orbital remote sensing to large-scale mapping produced during and after the mission.  

The core element of GEOS is the sampling, providing the ground truth of the remote sensing observation.  AMADEE24 Rovers and Analog astronauts will do rock and terrain sampling along transects on base maps supplied by RSS (Remote Science Support) and Flight Planning (FP) for the Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs).  Part of the samples will return from the simulated Martian habitat, and be made available for more advanced laboratory analyses.     

In-habitat compositional measurements offer a first estimate of the mineralogy and geochemistry of the samples.  Specifically, AMADEE24 carried a RAMAN spectrometer in the field.

 Here, we will present the preliminary results of AMADEE24/GEOS and ongoing activities for the technical and scientific exploitation of the experiment.