Mineralogical characterization of Mars Science Laboratory candidate landing sites from THEMIS and TES data

Rogers, A. D.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009.04.020

Cited by 72 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The orientations of these dunes indicate sediment transport toward the southwest (Hobbs et al 2010). They are presently active (Silvestro et al 2012) and infrared spectra have been interpreted to suggest that they consist of mafic, olivine-bearing sand (Rogers and Bandfield 2009;Milliken et al 2010).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 97%

“…3; Milliken et al 2010). Additional observations from combined visible, near infrared, and thermal infrared spectra suggest that materials associated with the mound (e.g., strata in the mound, material shed from these strata, or alteration products) also include iron oxides and unaltered pyroxenebearing and olivine-bearing material (Rogers and Bandfield 2009;Milliken et al 2010;Anderson and Bell 2010). Interpretation of the mineralogy of the upper stratal package is limited because either dust mantles the outcrops, the rocks are composed of lithified dust, the rocks are composed of another material that cannot be identified from infrared spectra, or some combination of these (Milliken et al 2010).…”

Section: Fig 1 Location Of Mahli Hardware Aboard the Mars Science Lamentioning

confidence: 98%

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Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) Investigation

et al. 2012

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The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) investigation will use a 2-megapixel color camera with a focusable macro lens aboard the rover, Curiosity, to investigate the stratigraphy and grain-scale texture, structure, mineralogy, and morphology of geologic materials in northwestern Gale crater. Of particular interest is the stratigraphic record of a ∼5 km thick layered rock sequence exposed on the slopes of Aeolis Mons (also known as Mount Sharp). The instrument consists of three parts, a camera head mounted on the turret at the end of a robotic arm, an electronics and data storage assembly located inside the rover body, and a calibration target mounted on the robotic arm shoulder azimuth actuator housing. MAHLI can acquire in-focus images at working distances from ∼2.1 cm to infinity. At the minimum working distance, image pixel scale is ∼14 µm per pixel and very coarse silt grains can be resolved. At the working distance of the Mars Exploration Rover Microscopic Imager cameras aboard Spirit and Opportunity, MAHLI's resolution is comparable at ∼30 µm per pixel. Onboard capabilities include autofocus, autoexposure, sub-framing, video imaging, Bayer pattern color interpolation, lossy and lossless compression, focus merging of up to 8 focus stack images, white light and longwave ultraviolet (365 nm) illumination of nearby subjects, and 8 gigabytes of non-volatile memory data storage.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Fig 1 Location Of Mahli Hardware Aboard the Mars Science Lamentioning

confidence: 98%

Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) Investigation

et al. 2012

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“…Finally, some sulphate-bearing strata in Gale show evidence for crystalline red haematite (Milliken et al 2010), perhaps analogous to <30 μm haematite in Meridiani outcrop matrix (Clark et al 2005;Fleischer et al 2010). Unlike Meridiani, Gale shows no evidence for substantial accumulations of crystalline grey haematite in surface lag deposits (Rogers & Bandfield 2009). It is challenging to constrain the abundance of sulphates in Mt.…”

Section: Mound Composition and Texturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gale crater: the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Rover Landing Site

Wray¹

2012

International Journal of Astrobiology

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Gale crater formed from an impact on Mars *3.6 billion years ago. It hosts a central mound nearly 100 km wide and *5 km high, consisting of layered rocks with a variety of textures and spectral properties. The oldest exposed layers contain variably hydrated sulphates and smectite clay minerals, implying an aqueous origin, whereas the younger layers higher on the mound are covered by a mantle of dust. Fluvial channels carved into the crater walls and the lower mound indicate that surface liquids were present during and after deposition of the mound material. Numerous hypotheses have been advocated for the origin of some or all minerals and layers in the mound, ranging from deep lakes to playas to mostly dry dune fields to airfall dust or ash subjected to only minor alteration driven by snowmelt. The complexity of the mound suggests that multiple depositional and diagenetic processes are represented in the materials exposed today. Beginning in August 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity will explore Gale crater by ascending the mound's northwestern flank, providing unprecedented new detail on the evolution of environmental conditions and habitability over many millions of years during which the mound strata accumulated.

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“…Interpretation of Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) data obtained by Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) provided clear evidence for abundant mafic minerals, including pyroxenes, and altered basalt across the martian surface and some suggestions, at the limit of quantitative interpretation, for phyllosilicates and/or glasses (e.g. Bandfield, 2002;Wyatt and McSween, 2002;Michalski et al, 2006;Rogers and Bandfield, 2009;Michalski and Fergason, 2009). Data obtained at visible and near-to mid-infrared wavelengths (0.35-5.1 lm), especially in the 1.4-2.5 lm wavelength region, and higher spatial resolution (down to a few hundred meters), by the Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, ľEau, les Glaces et ľActivité (OMEGA) from Mars Express (MEx) provided more definitive evidence for the presence of mafic silicates (e.g.…”

Section: Motivation and Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%