Mars Science Laboratory XXX XX XXXX
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
VI FORSKER PÅ MARS Kort Om Aktiviteten I Mange Tiår Har Mars Vært Et Yndet Objekt for Forskere Verden Over
VI FORSKER PÅ MARS Kort om aktiviteten I mange tiår har Mars vært et yndet objekt for forskere verden over. Men hvorfor det? Hva er det med den røde planeten som er så interessant? Her forsøker vi å gi en oversikt over hvorfor vi er så opptatt av Mars. Hva har vi oppdaget, og hva er det vi tenker å gjøre? Det finnes en planet i solsystemet vårt som bare er bebodd av roboter -MARS- Læringsmål Elevene skal kunne - gi eksempler på dagsaktuell forskning og drøfte hvordan ny kunnskap genereres gjennom samarbeid og kritisk tilnærming til eksisterende kunnskap - utforske, forstå og lage teknologiske systemer som består av en sender og en mottaker - gjøre rede for energibevaring og energikvalitet og utforske ulike måter å omdanne, transportere og lagre energi på VI FORSKER PÅ MARS side 1 Innhold Kort om aktiviteten ................................................................................................................................ 1 Læringsmål ................................................................................................................................................ 1 Mars gjennom historien ...................................................................................................................... 3 Romkappløp mot Mars ................................................................................................................... 3 2000-tallet gir rovere i fleng ....................................................................................................... 4 Hva nå? ...................................................................................................................................................... -
Generate Viewsheds of Mastcam Images from the Curiosity Rover, Using Arcgis® and Public Datasets
TECHNICAL Coupling Mars Ground and Orbital Views: Generate REPORTS: METHODS Viewsheds of Mastcam Images From the Curiosity 10.1029/2020EA001247 Rover, Using ArcGIS® and Public Datasets Key Points: 1 2 1 3 4 • Mastcam images from the Curiosity M. Nachon , S. Borges , R. C. Ewing , F. Rivera‐Hernández , N. Stein , and rover are available online but lack a J. K. Van Beek5 public method to be placed back in the Mars orbital context 1Department of Geology and Geophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, 2Department of Astronomy • This procedure allows users to and Planetary Sciences—College of Engineering, Forestry, and Natural Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, generate Mastcam image viewsheds: 3 4 locate in a map view the Mars AZ, USA, Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA, Division of Geological and Planetary 5 terrains visible in Mastcam images Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA, Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA, USA • This procedure uses ArcGIS® and publicly available Mars datasets Abstract The Mastcam (Mast Camera) instrument onboard the NASA Curiosity rover provides an Supporting Information: exclusive view of Mars: High‐resolution color images from Mastcam allow users to study Gale crater's • Dataset S1 geologic terrains along Curiosity's path. These ground observations complement the spatially broader • Dataset S2 • Dataset S3 views of Gale crater provided by spacecrafts from orbit. However, for a given Mastcam image, it can be • Table S1 challenging to locate the corresponding terrains on the orbital view. No method for locating Mastcam images • Table S2 onto orbital images had been made publicly available. -
Chemical Variations in Yellowknife Bay Formation Sedimentary Rocks
PUBLICATIONS Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets RESEARCH ARTICLE Chemical variations in Yellowknife Bay formation 10.1002/2014JE004681 sedimentary rocks analyzed by ChemCam Special Section: on board the Curiosity rover on Mars Results from the first 360 Sols of the Mars Science Laboratory N. Mangold1, O. Forni2, G. Dromart3, K. Stack4, R. C. Wiens5, O. Gasnault2, D. Y. Sumner6, M. Nachon1, Mission: Bradbury Landing P.-Y. Meslin2, R. B. Anderson7, B. Barraclough4, J. F. Bell III8, G. Berger2, D. L. Blaney9, J. C. Bridges10, through Yellowknife Bay F. Calef9, B. Clark11, S. M. Clegg5, A. Cousin5, L. Edgar8, K. Edgett12, B. Ehlmann4, C. Fabre13, M. Fisk14, J. Grotzinger4, S. Gupta15, K. E. Herkenhoff7, J. Hurowitz16, J. R. Johnson17, L. C. Kah18, N. Lanza19, Key Points: 2 1 20 21 12 16 2 • J. Lasue , S. Le Mouélic , R. Léveillé , E. Lewin , M. Malin , S. McLennan , S. Maurice , Fluvial sandstones analyzed by 22 22 23 19 19 24 25 ChemCam display subtle chemical N. Melikechi , A. Mezzacappa , R. Milliken , H. Newsom , A. Ollila , S. K. Rowland , V. Sautter , variations M. Schmidt26, S. Schröder2,C.d’Uston2, D. Vaniman27, and R. Williams27 • Combined analysis of chemistry and texture highlights the role of 1Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes, CNRS, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France, 2Institut de Recherche diagenesis en Astrophysique et Planétologie, CNRS/Université de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, Toulouse, France, 3Laboratoire de Géologie de • Distinct chemistry in upper layers 4 5 suggests distinct setting and/or Lyon, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA, Los Alamos National 6 source Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA, Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, California, USA, 7Astrogeology Science Center, U.S. -
ROVING ACROSS MARS: SEARCHING for EVIDENCE of FORMER HABITABLE ENVIRONMENTS Michael H
PERSPECTIVE ROVING ACROSS MARS: SEARCHING FOR EVIDENCE OF FORMER HABITABLE ENVIRONMENTS Michael H. Carr* My love affair with Mars started in the late 1960s when I was appointed a member of the Mariner 9 and Viking Orbiter imaging teams. The global surveys of these two missions revealed a geological wonderland in which many of the geological processes that operate here on Earth operate also on Mars, but on a grander scale. I was subsequently involved in almost every Mars mission, both US and non- US, through the early 2000s, and wrote several books on Mars, most recently The Surface of Mars (Carr 2006). I also participated extensively in NASA’s long-range strategic planning for Mars exploration, including assessment of the merits of various techniques, such as penetrators, Mars rovers showing their evolution from 1996 to the present day. FIGURE 1 balloons, airplanes, and rovers. I am, therefore, following the results In the foreground is the tethered rover, Sojourner, launched in 1996. On the left is a model of the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, launched in 2004. from Curiosity with considerable interest. On the right is Curiosity, launched in 2011. IMAGE CREDIT: NASA/JPL-CALTECH The six papers in this issue outline some of the fi ndings of the Mars rover Curiosity, which has spent the last two years on the Martian surface looking for evidence of past habitable conditions. It is not the fi rst rover to explore Mars, but it is by far the most capable (FIG. 1). modest-sized landed vehicles. Advances in guidance enabled landing Included on the vehicle are a number of cameras, an alpha particle at more interesting and promising places, and advances in robotics led X-ray spectrometer (APXS) for contact elemental composition, a spec- to vehicles with more independent capabilities. -
Mariner to Mercury, Venus and Mars
NASA Facts National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91109 Mariner to Mercury, Venus and Mars Between 1962 and late 1973, NASA’s Jet carry a host of scientific instruments. Some of the Propulsion Laboratory designed and built 10 space- instruments, such as cameras, would need to be point- craft named Mariner to explore the inner solar system ed at the target body it was studying. Other instru- -- visiting the planets Venus, Mars and Mercury for ments were non-directional and studied phenomena the first time, and returning to Venus and Mars for such as magnetic fields and charged particles. JPL additional close observations. The final mission in the engineers proposed to make the Mariners “three-axis- series, Mariner 10, flew past Venus before going on to stabilized,” meaning that unlike other space probes encounter Mercury, after which it returned to Mercury they would not spin. for a total of three flybys. The next-to-last, Mariner Each of the Mariner projects was designed to have 9, became the first ever to orbit another planet when two spacecraft launched on separate rockets, in case it rached Mars for about a year of mapping and mea- of difficulties with the nearly untried launch vehicles. surement. Mariner 1, Mariner 3, and Mariner 8 were in fact lost The Mariners were all relatively small robotic during launch, but their backups were successful. No explorers, each launched on an Atlas rocket with Mariners were lost in later flight to their destination either an Agena or Centaur upper-stage booster, and planets or before completing their scientific missions. -
Elements of Astronomy and Cosmology Outline 1
ELEMENTS OF ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY OUTLINE 1. The Solar System The Four Inner Planets The Asteroid Belt The Giant Planets The Kuiper Belt 2. The Milky Way Galaxy Neighborhood of the Solar System Exoplanets Star Terminology 3. The Early Universe Twentieth Century Progress Recent Progress 4. Observation Telescopes Ground-Based Telescopes Space-Based Telescopes Exploration of Space 1 – The Solar System The Solar System - 4.6 billion years old - Planet formation lasted 100s millions years - Four rocky planets (Mercury Venus, Earth and Mars) - Four gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) Figure 2-2: Schematics of the Solar System The Solar System - Asteroid belt (meteorites) - Kuiper belt (comets) Figure 2-3: Circular orbits of the planets in the solar system The Sun - Contains mostly hydrogen and helium plasma - Sustained nuclear fusion - Temperatures ~ 15 million K - Elements up to Fe form - Is some 5 billion years old - Will last another 5 billion years Figure 2-4: Photo of the sun showing highly textured plasma, dark sunspots, bright active regions, coronal mass ejections at the surface and the sun’s atmosphere. The Sun - Dynamo effect - Magnetic storms - 11-year cycle - Solar wind (energetic protons) Figure 2-5: Close up of dark spots on the sun surface Probe Sent to Observe the Sun - Distance Sun-Earth = 1 AU - 1 AU = 150 million km - Light from the Sun takes 8 minutes to reach Earth - The solar wind takes 4 days to reach Earth Figure 5-11: Space probe used to monitor the sun Venus - Brightest planet at night - 0.7 AU from the -
JSC-Rocknest: a Large-Scale Mojave Mars Simulant (MMS) Based Soil Simulant for In-Situ
1 JSC-Rocknest: A large-scale Mojave Mars Simulant (MMS) based soil simulant for in-situ 2 resource utilization water-extraction studies 3 Clark, J.V.a*, Archer, P.D.b, Gruener, J.E.c, Ming, D.W.c, Tu, V.M.b, Niles, P.B.c, Mertzman, 4 S.A.d 5 a GeoControls Systems, Inc – Jacobs JETS Contract at NASA Johnson Space Center, 2101 6 NASA Pkwy, Houston, TX 77058, USA. [email protected], 281-244-7442 7 b Jacobs JETS Contract at NASA Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Pkwy, Houston, TX 8 77058, USA. 9 c NASA Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Pkwy, Houston, TX 77058, USA. 10 d Department of Earth and Environmental, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17604, 11 USA. 12 *Corresponding author 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Keywords: Simulant, Mars, In-situ resource utilization, evolved gas analysis, Rocknest 1 20 Abstract 21 The Johnson Space Center-Rocknest (JSC-RN) simulant was developed in response to a 22 need by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) 23 project for a simulant to be used in component and system testing for water extraction from Mars 24 regolith. JSC-RN was designed to be chemically and mineralogically similar to material from the 25 aeolian sand shadow named Rocknest in Gale Crater, particularly the 1-3 wt.% low temperature 26 (<450 ºC) water release as measured by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the 27 Curiosity rover. Sodium perchlorate, goethite, pyrite, ferric sulfate, regular and high capacity 28 granular ferric oxide, and forsterite were added to a Mojave Mars Simulant (MMS) base in order 29 to match the mineralogy, evolved gases, and elemental chemistry of Rocknest. -
A Miniaturized Chemin Xrd/Xrf for Future Mars Exploration
Ninth International Conference on Mars 2019 (LPI Contrib. No. 2089) 6230.pdf A MINIATURIZED CHEMIN XRD/XRF FOR FUTURE MARS EXPLORATION. B. Lafuente1, P. Sarrazin1, T. F. Bristow2, D. F. Blake2, M. Gailhanou3, J. Chen4, K. Thompson1, R. Walroth2, K. Zacny5, R. T. Downs6, and A. Yen7, 1SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA ([email protected]), 2Exobiology, NASA ARC, Moffett Field, CA, 3CNRS, IM2NP UMR, Marseille, France, 4Baja Technology, Tempe, AZ, 5Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mecha- nisms Corp., Pasadena, CA, 6Geosciences, Univ. Arizona, Tucson AZ, 7JPL, Pasadena, CA. Introduction: X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray ergy-selective detection of XRD photons in Mars’ ra- Fluorescence (XRF) analyses provide the most diag- diative environment. The CheMinX XRD geometry is nostic and complete characterization of rocks and soil based on an architecture demonstrated by hundreds of by any spacecraft-capable technique, improved upon commercial XRD instruments (Terra, commercial spin- only by sample return and analysis in terrestrial labora- off of CheMin, Fig. 1). This design resulted from a tories. In a complex sample such as a basalt, XRD can ray-tracing study of XRD geometries based on high as- definitively identify and quantify all minerals, establish pect-ratio detectors. It was found that reduced surface their individual elemental compositions and quantify area detectors can be used with no loss in throughput, the amount of the amorphous component. When cou- angular resolution or angular range, the loss in detector pled with XRF, the composition of the amorphous coverage being fully compensated for by an optimized component can be determined as well. collimator design. The MSL CheMin instrument, the first XRD instru- In its basic implementation CheMinX will provide ment flown in space, established the quantitative min- a resolution of 0.3° 2θ FWHM, slightly improved over eralogy of the Mars soil [1], characterized the first hab- CheMin’s 0.35°. -
Phil Liebrecht Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator and Deputy Program Manager Space Communications and Navigation NASA HQ
Phil Liebrecht Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator and Deputy Program Manager Space Communications and Navigation NASA HQ Meeting the Communications and Navigation Needs of Space missions since 1957 “Keeping the Universe Connected” Public University of Navarra, 2010 [email protected] 1 Operations and Communications Customers 2 Space Operations 101 Relation Between Space Segment, Ground System, and Data Users* Ground System Command Commands Requests Spacecraft and Payload Support • Mission Planning Telemetry • Flight Operations • Flight Dynamics • Perf. Assess., Trending & Archiving Space Data Users • Anomaly Support Segment Data Relay and Level (S/C) Mission Zero Data Processing Mission Data Data • Space-to-ground Comm. • Data Capture • Data Processing • Network Management • Data Distribution • Quick Look * Based on Wertz and Wiley; Space Mission Analysis and Design 3 Communications Theory- Basic Concepts Transmitter and Receiver must use the same language Noise causes interference a) Figures it – no errors (Identify and quantify) b) Figures it – corrects Must be loud enough ENERGY! c) Figures it – incorrectly (message in error) d) Cannot figure- recognizes E L an error T M E XP AIN L E e) Cannot figure- ? TRANSMITTER Distance weakens the sound RECEIVER (calculate the loss) CHANNEL Has to correctly interpret the message - the most difficult job The fundamental problem of communications is that of reproducing at one point either exactly or approximately a message selected at another point. 4 Functional - End to End Process -
Getting to Mars How Close Is Mars?
Getting to Mars How close is Mars? Exploring Mars 1960-2004 Of 42 probes launched: 9 crashed on launch or failed to leave Earth orbit 4 failed en route to Mars 4 failed to stop at Mars 1 failed on entering Mars orbit 1 orbiter crashed on Mars 6 landers crashed on Mars 3 flyby missions succeeded 9 orbiters succeeded 4 landers succeeded 1 lander en route Score so far: Earthlings 16, Martians 25, 1 in play Mars Express Mars Exploration Rover Mars Exploration Rover Mars Exploration Rover 1: Meridiani (Opportunity) 2: Gusev (Spirit) 3: Isidis (Beagle-2) 4: Mars Polar Lander Launch Window 21: Jun-Jul 2003 Mars Express 2003 Jun 2 In Mars orbit Dec 25 Beagle 2 Lander 2003 Jun 2 Crashed at Isidis Dec 25 Spirit/ Rover A 2003 Jun 10 Landed at Gusev Jan 4 Opportunity/ Rover B 2003 Jul 8 Heading to Meridiani on Sunday Launch Window 1: Oct 1960 1M No. 1 1960 Oct 10 Rocket crashed in Siberia 1M No. 2 1960 Oct 14 Rocket crashed in Kazakhstan Launch Window 2: October-November 1962 2MV-4 No. 1 1962 Oct 24 Rocket blew up in parking orbit during Cuban Missile Crisis 2MV-4 No. 2 "Mars-1" 1962 Nov 1 Lost attitude control - Missed Mars by 200000 km 2MV-3 No. 1 1962 Nov 4 Rocket failed to restart in parking orbit The Mars-1 probe Launch Window 3: November 1964 Mariner 3 1964 Nov 5 Failed after launch, nose cone failed to separate Mariner 4 1964 Nov 28 SUCCESS, flyby in Jul 1965 3MV-4 No. -
Determining Mineralogy on Mars with the Chemin X-Ray Diffractometer the Chemin Team Logo Illustrating the Diffraction of Minerals on Mars
Determining Mineralogy on Mars with the CheMin X-Ray Diffractometer The CheMin team logo illustrating the diffraction of minerals on Mars. Robert T. Downs1 and the MSL Science Team 1811-5209/15/0011-0045$2.50 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.11.1.45 he rover Curiosity is conducting X-ray diffraction experiments on the The mineralogy of the Martian surface of Mars using the CheMin instrument. The analyses enable surface is dominated by the phases found in basalt and its ubiquitous Tidentifi cation of the major and minor minerals, providing insight into weathering products. To date, the the conditions under which the samples were formed or altered and, in turn, major basaltic minerals identi- into past habitable environments on Mars. The CheMin instrument was devel- fied by CheMin include Mg– Fe-olivines, Mg–Fe–Ca-pyroxenes, oped over a twenty-year period, mainly through the efforts of scientists and and Na–Ca–K-feldspars, while engineers from NASA and DOE. Results from the fi rst four experiments, at the minor primary minerals include Rocknest, John Klein, Cumberland, and Windjana sites, have been received magnetite and ilmenite. CheMin and interpreted. The observed mineral assemblages are consistent with an also identifi ed secondary minerals formed during alteration of the environment hospitable to Earth-like life, if it existed on Mars. basalts, such as calcium sulfates KEYWORDS: X-ray diffraction, Mars, Gale Crater, habitable environment, CheMin, (anhydrite and bassanite), iron Curiosity rover oxides (hematite and akaganeite), pyrrhotite, clays, and quartz. These secondary minerals form and INTRODUCTION persist only in limited ranges of temperature, pressure, and The Mars rover Curiosity landed in Gale Crater on August ambient chemical conditions (i.e. -
Chemin: a Definitive Mineralogy Instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory (Msl ’09) Rover
Seventh International Conference on Mars 3220.pdf CHEMIN: A DEFINITIVE MINERALOGY INSTRUMENT ON THE MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY (MSL ’09) ROVER. D.F. Blake1, P. Sarrazin2, D. L. Bish3, S. J. Chipera4, D. T. Vaniman4, D. Ming5, D. Morris5 and Albert Yen6. 1NASA ARC, MS 239-4, Moffett Field, CA 94035 ([email protected]), 2 In-Xitu, Inc., 2551 Casey Ave. Ste A, Mountain View, CA 94042, 3Dept. Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, 4Hydrology, Geochemistry, and Geology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS D469, Los Alamos, NM 87545, 5NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, MS 300-315L, Pasadena, CA 91109, 6MS 183-501, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109 Introduction: An important goal of the Mars Sci- a 600X600 front-illuminated frame transfer device ence Laboratory (MSL ’09) mission is the determina- having 40 !m square pixels, a deep depletion zone for tion of definitive mineralogy and chemical composi- high quantum efficiency of 7 KeV X-rays (CoK"), tion of Mars soil and rocks. CheMin is a miniature and a thin polygate structure for enhanced sensitivity X-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument that has been cho- to lower atomic number elements such as Mg. sen for the analytical laboratory of MSL [1]. CheMin uses a microfocus-source Co X-ray tube, a transmis- Table 1: Critical source and detector requirements. sion sample cell, and an energy-discriminating X-ray sensitive CCD to produce simultaneous 2-D XRD pat- Parameter Value terns and energy-dispersive X-ray histograms from powdered samples. A diagram of the instrument ge- 2! range 5-50° 2! ometry is shown in Figure 1.