Mineralogy Considerations for 2003 MER Site Selection and the Importance for Astrobiology

Details Mineralogy Considerations for 2003 MER Site Selection and the Importance for Astrobiology Mineralogy Considerations for 2003 MER Site Selection and the Importance for Astrobiology

Jan 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001mers.work....6b&link_type=abstract

First Landing Site Workshop for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers, p. 6

Biology

Mars Exploration, Exobiology, Mineralogy, Roving Vehicles, Site Selection, Landing Sites, Volcanology, Infrared Spectra, Mossbauer Effect, Spectral Reflectance, Thermal Emission

Scientific paper

Much of the discussion of site selection on Mars is based on interesting images of the surface combined with safety issues. I argue that the two rovers should be sent to mineralogically distinct regions. Compositional information is still poorly constrained on Mars; however, the instruments on the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) will provide a unique opportunity for detailed characterization including mineral identification. There is strong motivation for sending one rover to a "typical" region on Mars to be used as a ground truth for the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), while the other rover should be sent to a site where water and chemical alteration are likely to have occurred. Determining the mineralogy of the Martian surface material provides information about the past and present environments on Mars which are an integral aspect of whether or not Mars was suitable for the origin of life. Understanding the mineralogy of terrestrial samples from potentially Mars-like environments is essential to this effort.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Mineralogy Considerations for 2003 MER Site Selection and the Importance for Astrobiology does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Mineralogy Considerations for 2003 MER Site Selection and the Importance for Astrobiology, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Mineralogy Considerations for 2003 MER Site Selection and the Importance for Astrobiology will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-901288