Exoland Simulator, a Laboratory Device for Reflectance Spectral Analyses of Planetary Soil Analogs: Design and Simulation

In planetary science, visible (Vis) and near-infrared (NIR) reflectance spectra allow deciphering the chemical/mineralogical composition of celestial bodies’ surfaces by comparison between remotely acquired data and laboratory references. This paper presents the design of an automated test rig named Exoland Simulator equipped with two reflectance spectrometers covering the 0.38–2.2 µm range. It is designed to collect data of natural/synthetic rocks and minerals prepared in the laboratory that simulate the composition of planetary surfaces. The structure of the test rig is conceived as a Cartesian robot to automatize the acquisition. The test rig is also tested by simulating some project trajectories, and results are presented in terms of its ability to reproduce the programmed trajectories. Furthermore, preliminary spectral data are shown to demonstrate how the soil analogs’ spectra could allow an accurate remote identification of materials, enabling the creation of libraries to study the effect of multiple chemical–physical component variations on individual spectral bands. Despite the primary scope of Exoland, it can be advantageously used also for tribological purposes, to correlate the wear behavior of soils and materials with their composition by also analyzing the wear scars.