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Mars Science Lab Landing Sites

Mars Science Lab Landing Sites. Horton Newsom Institute of Meteoritics and Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Univ. of New Mexico ChemCam co-investigator. Implications of multiple goals for the MSL mission.

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Mars Science Lab Landing Sites

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  1. Mars Science Lab Landing Sites Horton Newsom Institute of Meteoritics and Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Univ. of New Mexico ChemCam co-investigator

  2. Implications of multiple goals for the MSL mission • Success of Spirit at sampling very different types of terrains raises expectations for similar results with MSL • Multiple targets enhances chance for mission success in terms of finding target habitats • Possible targets include: • Evaporites and sediments (preferably low energy) • Hydrothermal deposits (preferably deep seated or old) – Impact crater rims and central uplifts • Alteration phases produced under neutral conditions (clays) – Ancient highlands

  3. Change in climate history on Mars? • Change over time at surface from clays to sulfates to dry ferric oxides • Change penetrates only slowly into crust so exhumed deep materials may be desirable Bibring et al., 2006, Science Sulfur from surface Subsurface – igneous water/rock Newsom, 2005, Nature News & Views

  4. Possible site – Far west Meridiani(I started looking east but ended up west!) • Examined in detail for the MER site selection and evaluation activity – Newsom et al., 2003, JGR (MER issue)

  5. Multi-ringed basin 1600 km diameter centered on Meridiani?Elevation - detrended MOLA topographye.g.Newsom et al., 2003, JGR Landing Site

  6. Far-West Meridiani • Landing ellipse in 20 km diam. crater • Region of interest up to 5 km outside of the ellipse • Hematite • Layered terrain • Low elevation below -1500 m Region of interest

  7. Far West Meridiani • Layered terrain • Highlands and crater rims • Crater floor deposits and hematite (multiple facies visible at 100m resolution) • Examined for the MER site selection– Newsom et al., 2001, JGR Crater floor deposits Highlands-crater rim Sediments and hematite Highlands-crater rim Layered terrain Example traverse

  8. Major fluvial and lacustrine features • Newsom et al., 2003, JGR (MER issue) To Iani chaos Landing Site Opportunity

  9. Layered terrain Elevation change across slope: 250 m (-2000 m up to -1750 m top of layered unit) South North

  10. Layered terrain cont.Located at edge of landing site ellipse on SE corner, also maybe on SW corner, extent in ellipse unknown

  11. Hematite in Far West Meridiani • Hematite – Post depositional fluids or detrital processes • TES data Christensen et al.

  12. Conclusions • Far West Meridiani site has potential for multiple environmental habitats and organic preservation • Presence of layered materials (sulfates?, sediments?) is the highlight of this site • Crater rims and highlands exposures have potential for different aqueous environments with phyllosilicate alteration • New data are needed in the actual landing ellipse to confirm presence of different types of material in the ellipse and nearby, especially clays?, hydrothermal activity? and different types of sediments • This site is a good example of having varied and interesting materials both inside and around the landing ellipse • Time and limited access to Omega products restricted opportunities to search for better sites at this stage

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