ELSSIE: A compact stereo spectral imager for planetary surface morphology and composition

Here we describe the design, prototyping, testing, and simulations that were conducted to demonstrate the technology for a concept of the next generation landed planetary spectral imager, the Europa Lander Stereo Spectral Imaging Experiment (ELSSIE). The concept was developed originally for a Europa Lander mission, but the design is applicable, with simplifications, to any ocean world of the outer solar system or to non-icy bodies, including Enceladus, the Moon, Mars, or the surface of Ceres. ELSSIE's design consists of two subassemblies. A Sensor melds a high-resolution, 20-filter, 0.4–3.65 μm, adjustable-focus multispectral stereo imager with a 0.8–3.6 μm point spectrometer, sharing a radiation-shielded single Teledyne H2RG 2048 × 2048 pixel focal plane array (FPA). Each camera includes two 6-position filter wheels with 5 filters and a blank position, providing 10 bandpasses for each of the 2 stereo eyes, and uses 700 × 700 pixels of the FPA. The point spectrometer uses a 6 ×350 pixel strip of the FPA. The Sensor provides stereo and imaging/spectroscopic measurements of reflected light from visible to medium wave-infrared (MWIR) wavelengths to characterize surface morphology, search for pyroclastic plumes, search for organics, identify salts and possible biominerals, characterize crystalline vs. amorphous ice and ice grain sizes, and map the distributions of key phases. In addition to addressing important geologic questions, these measurements support selection of a site for in situ sampling and analysis. A Data Processing Unit (DPU) performs mitigation of radiation that penetrates the shielding using sets of same-filter image frames or spectra of a single spot by removing image spatial pixels with radiation hits, and coadding the remainder for the same spatial pixel, improving signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The DPU also performs onboard calibration of imager and spectrometer data, co-registration of multispectral images, and calculation of spectral index (“summary parameter”) images for efficient use of lander downlink. Co-registered multispectral image sets and spectra are retained onboard and can be downlinked upon query.