Contribution to the Swiss science exploitation of the CLose-UP Imager on the ExoMars 2022 rover mission

The close-up imager CLUPI is one of the instruments that will be onboard ESA's "Rosalind Franklin" rover, searching for signs of life in the framework of the joint ESA-Roscosmos "ExoMars 2022" mission. CLUPI will acquire high-resolution images essential to investigate the geology of Mars, selecting samples with a high potential to contain biomarkers. This project includes CLUPI- science validation/training activities aimed at optimizing the scientific return of the instrument during the primary mission on Mars (e.g., determining the ideal lighting conditions and positions relative to rock surfaces, developing drive paths and imaging options enabling the identification of rock types and mineralogy,...). These simulations will be mostly carried out in the "Marslabor" of the Uni Basel, a state-of-the-art Marsyard. The project will also include the development of new image analysis approaches (e.g. using software for determining size and shape of rock forming particles or rock structures such as thickness and patterns of laminae). Starting from the third year of the project, the PhD candidate will have the opportunity to participate in the primary mission and contribute to the interpretation of the images that will be acquired on Mars. Interactions with the Space Exploration Institute of Neuchâtel (headed by Dr. Jean-Luc Josset, PI of the CLUPI instrument), the Naturhistorisches Museum Bern (affiliation of the CLUPI Co-PI Prof. Beda Hofmann), plus collaborations with the international CLUPI science team are foreseen in this highly multidisciplinary project.