Search results for "Martian surface"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
Athena Mars rover science investigation
2003
[1] Each Mars Exploration Rover carries an integrated suite of scientific instruments and tools called the Athena science payload. The primary objective of the Athena science investigation is to explore two sites on the Martian surface where water may once have been present, and to assess past environmental conditions at those sites and their suitability for life. The remote sensing portion of the payload uses a mast called the Pancam Mast Assembly (PMA) that provides pointing for two instruments: the Panoramic Camera (Pancam), and the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES). Pancam provides high-resolution, color, stereo imaging, while Mini-TES provides spectral cubes at mid-inf…
Sulfate deposition in subsurface regolith in Gusev crater, Mars
2006
Excavating into the shallow Martian subsurface has the potential to expose stratigraphic layers and mature regolith, which may hold a record of more ancient aqueous interactions than those expected under current Martian surface conditions. During the Spirit rover's exploration of Gusev crater, rover wheels were used to dig three trenches into the subsurface regolith down to 6-11 cm depth: Road Cut, the Big Hole, and The Boroughs. A high oxidation state of Fe and high concentrations of Mg, S, Cl, and Br were found in the subsurface regolith within the two trenches on the plains, between the Bonneville crater and the foot of Columbia Hills. Data analyses on the basis of geochemistry and miner…
Mauna Kea, Hawaii, as an Analog Site for Future Planetary Resource Exploration: Results from the 2010 ILSO-ISRU Field-Testing Campaign
2013
Within the framework of the International Lunar Surface Operation - In-Situ Resource Utilization Analogue Test held on January 27 - February 11, 2010 on the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, a number of scientific instrument teams collaborated to characterize the field site and test instrument capabilities outside laboratory environments. In this paper, we provide a geological setting for this new field-test site, a description of the instruments that were tested during the 2010 ILSO-ISRU field campaign, and a short discussion for each instrument about the validity and use of the results obtained during the test. These results will form a catalogue that may serve as reference for future test cam…
Report of the COSPAR Mars special regions colloquium
2010
International audience; In this paper we present the findings of a COSPAR Mars Special Regions Colloquium held in Rome in 2007. We review and discuss the definition of Mars Special Regions, the physical parameters used to define Mars Special Regions, and physical features on Mars that can be interpreted as Mars Special Regions. We conclude that any region experiencing temperatures > -25 degrees C for a few hours a year and a water activity > 0.5 can potentially allow the replication of terrestrial microorganisms. Physical features on Mars that can be interpreted as meeting these conditions constitute a Mars Special Region. Based on current knowledge of the martian environment and the conser…
Nickel on Mars: Constraints on meteoritic material at the surface
2006
[1] Impact craters and the discovery of meteorites on Mars indicate clearly that there is meteoritic material at the Martian surface. The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometers (APXS) on board the Mars Exploration Rovers measure the elemental chemistry of Martian samples, enabling an assessment of the magnitude of the meteoritic contribution. Nickel, an element that is greatly enhanced in meteoritic material relative to samples of the Martian crust, is directly detected by the APXS and is observed to be geochemically mobile at the Martian surface. Correlations between nickel and other measured elements are used to constrain the quantity of meteoritic material present in Martian soil and sedimen…
Abiotic versus biotic iron mineral transformation studied by a miniaturized backscattering Mössbauer spectrometer (MIMOS II), X-ray diffraction and R…
2017
Abstract Searching for biomarkers or signatures of microbial transformations of minerals is a critical aspect for determining how life evolved on Earth, and whether or not life may have existed in other planets, including Mars. In order to solve such questions, several missions to Mars have sought to determine the geochemistry and mineralogy on the Martian surface. This research includes the two miniaturized Mossbauer spectrometers (MIMOS II) on board the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which have detected a variety of iron minerals on Mars, including magnetite (Fe2+Fe3+2O4) and goethite (α-FeO(OH)). On Earth, both minerals can derive from microbiological activity (e.g. thro…
Athena MIMOS II Mössbauer spectrometer investigation
2003
[1] Mossbauer spectroscopy is a powerful tool for quantitative mineralogical analysis of Fe-bearing materials. The miniature Mossbauer spectrometer MIMOS II is a component of the Athena science payload launched to Mars in 2003 on both Mars Exploration Rover missions. The instrument has two major components: (1) a rover-based electronics board that contains power supplies, a dedicated central processing unit, memory, and associated support electronics and (2) a sensor head that is mounted at the end of the instrument deployment device (IDD) for placement of the instrument in physical contact with soil and rock. The velocity transducer operates at a nominal frequency of ∼25 Hz and is equipped…
An astrobiological perspective on Meridiani Planum
2005
Sedimentary rocks exposed in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars record aqueous and eolian deposition in ancient dune and interdune playa-like environments that were arid, acidic, and oxidizing. On Earth, microbial populations have repeatedly adapted to low pH and both episodic and chronic water limitation, suggesting that, to a first approximation, the Meridiani plain may have been habitable during at least part of the interval when deposition and early diagenesis took place. On the other hand, the environmental conditions inferred for Meridiani deposition would have posed a challenge for prebiotic chemical reactions thought to have played a role in the origin of life on Earth. Orbital obs…