New visible and infrared data of minor bodies, including minor planet 1 Ceres, asteroids 4 Vesta, 21 Lutetia, 2867 Steins and comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (hereafter 67P/CG) have been collected in the last years by remote sensing instruments aboard NASA-Dawn and ESA-Rosetta missions. These minor bodies are among the most primitive bodies in the Solar System, and the understanding of their composition, surface morphology and evolution history is a fundamental step to shed light on the processes that occurred during planetary formation.By merging spatial and spectral information retrieved from the surfaces of these objects it is possible to infer their composition and physical properties and to correlate them with local morphology and geological processes. A discussion about spectral indicators, modeling, and mapping is given for both asteroids and comet 67P/CG. Given that the remote sensing observation techniques are very similar between Dawn and Rosetta missions, a comparative approach is used for the entire chapter and methods and interpretation for the results of these different objects are given together.

Visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy using reflected sunlight is an ideal tool for remote detection of many compounds. Surfaces can be measured in the field at close range (mm), or from a distance with aircraft or spacecraft. The technology works throughout the Solar System. Advancements have recently been made in sensor calibration and atmospheric correction, enabling faster and more accurate calibration to surface reflectance (or apparent surface reflectance). Parallel to these advancements have been advancements in radiative transfer models, including a better understanding of the scattering effects of submicrometer particles and the ability to model those effects. There has also been progress in spectral analysis, including methods to rapidly analyze imaging spectrometer data to identify and map hundreds of compounds. Finally, with the advancements in computer technology, both in compute speed and in storage, analysis of very large imaging spectrometer data sets is now feasible in a relatively short time. With some additional development, imaging spectroscopy could be used in real time or near real time applications, including exploration of resources to autonomous robots such as spacecraft rovers searching for resources or life on remote planets and satellites.