First light with the PTAL/MicrOmega bench (Orsay, 28 Feb. 2019 - Updated on 08 April 2019)!

PTAL-MicrOmega work bench during tests. D. Loizeau is controlling a MicrOmega observation of a rock sample while G. Lequertier is monitoring the glove-box atmospheric conditions and the automatic sample distribution system. This bench is a major hardware achievement of the PTAL project funded by H2020 project. This bench shall allow to observe automatically PTAL samples analogue of Mars with flight spare model of MicrOmega/ExoMars.

MicrOmega observation of a highly heterogeneous sample. You can see a picture of the whole rock piece (left) and an RGB composite image in the IR from MicrOmega (right). The black box on the left image shows the location of the MicrOmega observation. Spectral analysis enables to identify grains of different mineralogical composition.

MicrOmega observation of a homogeneous sample. You can see a picture of the whole rock piece (left) and an RGB composite image in the IR from MicrOmega (right). The black box on the left image shows the location of the MicrOmega observation.