0000000000854908
AUTHOR
Albert F. C. Haldemann
FIDO science payload simulating the Athena Payload
[1] The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Field Integrated Development and Operations rover (FIDO) emulates and tests operational rover capabilities for advanced Mars rover missions, such as those originally planned for the Mars Surveyor 2001 Rover and currently planned for the Athena Payload on the Mars Exploration Rovers scheduled for launch in 2003. This paper describes FIDO's science instrument payload, which is fully integrated with rover hardware and software. Remote science teams visualize instrument suite data and generate FIDO commands using the Web Interface for Telescience. FIDO's instrument suite has been used in terrestrial laboratory and field tests to simulate Mars operations, to t…
Pyroclastic Activity at Home Plate in Gusev Crater, Mars
Home Plate is a layered plateau in Gusev crater on Mars. It is composed of clastic rocks of moderately altered alkali basalt composition, enriched in some highly volatile elements. A coarsegrained lower unit lies under a finer-grained upper unit. Textural observations indicate that the lower strata were emplaced in an explosive event, and geochemical considerations favor an explosive volcanic origin over an impact origin. The lower unit likely represents accumulation of pyroclastic materials, whereas the upper unit may represent eolian reworking of the same pyroclastic materials.