SuperCam Raman Activities at Jezero Crater, Mars: Observational Strategies, Data Processing, and Mineral Detections During the First 1000 Sols
Abstract The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover introduced Raman spectroscopy to in situ planetary exploration for the first time when it landed in Jezero crater on Mars in February 2021. The SuperCam instrument onboard Perseverance is a multi‐analytical tool capable of acquiring time‐resolved Raman data from Martian targets at standoff distances of a few meters. This is a particularly challenging task due to the operational constraints, the harsh conditions on the Martian surface, and especially the very fine‐grained nature of the Martian soil. To address these challenges, the SuperCam Raman team has invested significant effort into optimizing both the acquisition and post‐processing of Raman data collected on Mars, as detailed in this work. Additionally, this paper reviews and discusses the detections made by SuperCam Raman during the first 1,000 sols (almost 3 Earth years) of the Mars 2020 mission. During this period, SuperCam Raman data provided key insights into the mineralogy of Jezero throughout the Crater, Delta, and Margin Campaigns. Key detections include olivine, carbonates, perchlorates, and sulfates (such as anhydrite), identified in both abraded patches and natural surfaces. The high specificity of Raman spectroscopy enables the unequivocal identification of these minerals, allowing for rapid and direct interpretation of Jezero's mineralogy, especially when combined with other techniques from SuperCam or others on the rover. Furthermore, this paper compiles the spectra acquired from the SuperCam Calibration Target samples on Mars, including studies on the degradation of the Ertalyte (PET), an organic polymer sample and analyses of diamond, apatite, and other reference materials.
Authors
- E. A. Cloutis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7301-0929)
- M. Nachon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0417-7076)
- Evan M. Kelly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2233-3901)
- E. Dehouck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1368-4494)
- Julene Aramendia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3728-8370)
- Gilles Montagnac (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9938-0282)
- A. J. Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9352-6989)
- Iván Reyes‐Rodríguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4735-6210)
- T. A. Acosta-Maeda
- D. Delapp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2514-337X)
- Juan Manuel Madariaga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1685-6335)
- G. López-Reyes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1005-1760)
- Jade Comellas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9417-7701)
- P. Pilleri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4861-0476)
- Susanne Schröder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1870-3663)
- Shiv K. Sharma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5676-7572)
- S. Maurice
- Marco Veneranda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7185-2791)
- Elise Clavé (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9514-8168)
- Sylvain Bernard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5576-7020)
- Olivier Beyssac (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8879-4762)
- Stephanie Connell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2109-1565)
- A. Ollila (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0479-9465)
- Ryan S. Jakubek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7880-9422)
- Kepa Castro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9931-7889)
- S. M. Clegg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0338-0948)
- Sofía Julve‐Gonzalez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9868-9931)
- J. A. Manrique (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2053-2819)
- Iratxe Poblacion
- R. C. Wiens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3409-7344)
- O. Forni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6772-9689)
- F. Rull
- A. Cousin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7823-7794)
- Olivier Gasnault (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6979-9012)
- Leire Coloma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3739-3296)
- S. Michael Angel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1455-953X)
- U. Wolf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8145-1864)
Institutions
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
- Universidad de Valladolid (ES)
- École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (FR)
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR)
- University of South Carolina (US)
- University of the Basque Country (ES)
- Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (DE)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Institut de minéralogie, de physique des matériaux et de cosmochimie (FR)
- Johnson Space Center (US)
- Jacobs (United States) (US)
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (FR)
- The University of Winnipeg (CA)
- Texas A&M University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Geophysical Research Planets
- Published
- 2025-11-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2025je008943
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Planetary Science and Exploration
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.31
Funders
- Purdue University
- California Institute of Technology
- Johns Hopkins University
- McGill University
- University of South Carolina
- Université de Lorraine
- Universidad de Málaga
- Le Mans Université
- Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales
- Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
- Université de Toulouse
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Universitetet i Oslo
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
- Université Paris-Saclay
- Universidad de Valladolid
- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
- École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
- Sorbonne Université
- U.S. Geological Survey
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
- Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
- Observatoire de Paris, Université de Recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
- Los Alamos National Laboratory