NEWTON - New portable multi-sensor scientific instrument for non-invasice ON-site characterization of rock from planetary surface and sub-surfaces

In space instrumentation, there is currently no instrument dedicated to susceptibly or complete magnetization measurements of rocks. Magnetic field instrument suites are generally vector (or scalar) magnetometers, which locally measure the magnetic field. When mounted on board rovers, the electromagnetic perturbations associated with motors and other elements make it difficult to reap the benefits from the inclusion of such instruments. However, magnetic characterization is essential to understand key aspects of the present and past history of planetary objects. The work presented here overcomes the limitations currently existing in space instrumentation by developing a new portable and compact multi-sensor instrument for ground breaking high-resolution magnetic characterization of planetary surfaces and sub-surfaces. This new technology introduces for the first time magnetic susceptometry (real and imaginary parts) as a complement to existing compact vector magnetometers for planetary exploration. The objective is  to obtain unique information on the magnetic structure recorded during the formation of the studied rocks, and thus to derive information regarding the ancient global magnetising field. This novel instrument is being developed under a H2020 RIA project entitled NEWTON. This project started in November 2016 and has a duration of 36 months.