Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmed21d..10b&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #ED21D-10
Mathematics
Logic
[6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars
Scientific paper
NASA successfully landed twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, on Mars in January 2004, in the most ambitious mission of robotic exploration attempted to that time. Each rover is outfitted as a robot field geologist with an impressive array of scientific instruments--cameras, spectrometers, other sensors--designed to investigate the composition and geologic history of two distinctly-different landing sites. The sites were chosen because of their potential to reveal clues about the past history of water and climate on Mars, and thus to provide tests of the hypothesis that the planet may once have been an abode for life. In this presentation I will review the images, spectra, and chemical/mineralogic information that the rover team has been acquiring from the landing sites and along the rovers' 7.7 and 22.7 km traverse paths, respectively. The data and interpretations have been widely shared with the public and the scientific community through web sites, frequent press releases, and scientific publications, and they provide quantitative evidence that liquid water has played a role in the modification of the Martian surface during the earliest part of the planet's history. At the Spirit site in Gusev Crater, the role of water appears to have been relatively minor in general, although the recent discovery of enigmatic hydrated sulfate salt and amorphous silica deposits suggests that locally there may have been significant water-rock interactions, and perhaps even sustained hydrothermal activity. At the Opportunity site in Meridiani Planum, geologic and mineralogic evidence suggests that liquid water was stable at the surface and shallow subsurface for significant periods of early Martian geologic history. An exciting implication from both missions is that localized environments on early Mars may have been "habitable" by some terrestrial standards. As of early September 2010, the rovers had operated for 2210 and 2347 Martian days (sols), respectively, with the Spirit rover in an assumed intentional state of "hibernation" since mid-April 2010. and the Opportunity rover actively embarking on a long (> 12 km) drive to the 22-km diameter crater Endeavour. This presentation will provide an update on the status of the expected return to operations of the Spirit rover this summer or fall, and the team's plans to continue to explore the potential hydrothermal environment in the region around the ancient volcanic feature known as Home Plate. I will also provide an update on the progress of Opportunity's drive to Endeavour, and the team's plans to study clay mineral (phyllosilicate) deposits that have been identified on the rim of Endeavour from orbital remote sensing observations. A key point of this presentation is that despite this being a robotic mission, it isn't really the rovers that are exploring Mars; rather, it is a large team of people here on Earth (as well as the interested public) that have spent nearly 7 years "virtually" roving across the red planet using some amazing and highly capable robotic tools.
Bell Jon F.
Engineering Teams
Mars Exploration Rover Science
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