The instrument is part of the science payload on board the European Rosalind Franklin rover,[2] tasked to search for biosignatures, and scheduled to launch not earlier than 2028.
The instrument is integrated within the Italian core drill system called DEEDRI, and it will be dedicated to in situ studies of the mineralogy inside the excavated holes in terms of visible and infrared spectral reflectance.
[5] It will be operated periodically during the pauses of the drilling activity and will also be able to provide images of the hole wall by a sapphire window connected to an array of optical fibres.
[5][6] MA-MISS will provide important information about mineralogy, petrology, and geological processes of sedimentary materials of the Martian subsurface.
The study of the Martian subsurface will provide important constraints on the nature, timing and duration of alteration and sedimentation processes on Mars, as well as on the complex interactions between the surface and the atmosphere.