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Abstracts Submitted by the Mars Community Abstracts submitted by the Mars community for presentation within MEPAG Meeting 36 (April 3-5, 2018) Forum & discussion regarding preparation for the next Planetary Science Decadal Survey Abstracts are ordered alphabetically (by first author), then by order of addition. This listing (and all meeting information) is posted at https://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/meetings.cfm?expand=m36. Last update: 3/28/18. NOTE ADDED BY JPL WEBMASTER for all abstracts not involving JPL-authors: This content has not been approved or adopted by NASA, JPL, or the California Institute of Technology. This document is being made available for information purposes only, and any views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of NASA, JPL, or the California Institute of Technology. Ab.# First author Institution Title Revolutionizing our understanding of the evolution of 1 Anderson, F.S. SWRI Mars and the history of the inner solar system U Colorado CO2 jets and their influence on the martian polar 2 Aye, M. Boulder atmosphere M-PRESS: Mars-Polar Reconnaissance of Environment & 3 Byrne, S. U Arizona Subsurface Stratigraphy U Nevada Mars Polar Mission concept study for the 2013 Visions and 4 Calvin, W. Reno Voyages Decadal Survey Smithsonian Mars exploration goals achieved by an orbital imaging 5 Campbell, B. Inst radar 6 Dundas, C. USGS Future Mars exploration: The present is the key to the past Why multiple landed missions to Mars are crucial to understanding the evolution of terrestrial planet habitability: key next steps in advance of the Decadal 7 Ehlmann, B.L. Caltech/JPL Survey Smallsat missions to make multi-point measurements of the martian magnetosphere, ionosphere, and crustal 8 Espley, J. NASA GSFC magnetic fields Assessing martian cave exploration for the next decadal 9 Fraeman, A. JPL survey Monitoring from orbit whether Mars is still seismically 10 Freund, F. NASA ARC active The importance of primary martian surface and airfall dust Harrington, sample return for toxicological hazard evaluations for 11 A.D. NASA JSC human exploration Ab.# First author Institution Title The importance of primary martian surface and airfall dust Harrington, sample return for toxicological hazard evaluations for 11 A.D. NASA JSC human exploration U Colorado Mars PolarDROP: Distributed micro-landers to investigate 12 Hayne, P.O. Boulder the polar ice caps and climate of Mars New efforts to update NASA’s global reference 13 Justh, H. NASA MSFC atmospheric models (GRAM) A new concept study for exploring and sampling Recurring 14 Kerber, L. JPL Slope Lineae (RSL) and other extreme terrains Mars weather and climate: an orbital constellation for 15 Kleinboehl, A. JPL atmospheric profiling and surface thermophysics The Icebreaker Mission to Mars: Habitable conditions on 16 McKay, C.P. NASA ARC modern Mars warrants a search for life Space Science Monitoring the weather on Mars with an areostationary 17 Montabone, L. Inst smallsat. U Western Rationale and concept for a synthetic aperture radar and 18 Osinski, G.R. Ontario sub-surface ice sounder for Mars High priority surface science objectives that are best 19 Rogers, A.D. Stony Brook U achieved from Mars orbit Considerations of spatial data and related technologies when discussing short- and long-term exploration 20 Skinner, J. USGS strategies of Mars COMPASS: Climate Orbiter for Mars Polar Atmospheric 21 Smith, I. PSI and Subsurface Science The 6th International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration: State of knowledge and Top five 22 Smith, I. PSI questions MarsDrop: Getting miniature instruments to the surface of 23 Staehle, R.L. JPL Mars as secondary payloads Considerations related to planning for the exploration of 24 Stamenkovic, V. JPL the martian subsurface 25 Tamppari, L. JPL A Discovery-class Mars climate mission A Sub-millimeter sounder for vertically measuring Mars 26 Tamppari, L. JPL winds, water vapor, and temperature Mars mission concept: Mars ice condensation and density 27 Titus, T.N. USGS orbiter Now you have it, what do you do with it? A mission to a 28 Rummel, J.D. SETI Institute returned Mars sample 29 McEwen, A.S. U Arizona The future of MRO/HiRISE Martian subsurface ice science investigation with a Special 30 Eigenbrode, J. NASA GSFC Regions drill Planetary Protection objectives for Mars mission concepts 31 Spry, A. SETI Institute of the next decade MEPAG Meeting 36 (April 3-5, 2018) Forum Abstract # 01 REVOLUTIONIZING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE EVOLUTION OF MARS AND THE HISTORY OF THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM. F. S. Anderson1, T. J. Whitaker1, and J. L. Levine2, 1Southwest Research In- stitute, 1050 Walnut St, Boulder CO; [email protected], 2Colgate University, Hamilton, NY 13346. Introduction: The next Decadal Survey should furthermore be propagated to Mercury [e.g., 10, 11], advocate for new chronology missions for Mars, build- Venus [e.g., 12, 13, 14], Earth (where the record of an- ing on the results of Mars Sample Return (MSR). The cient impacts has been erased by erosion and plate Mars Exploration Program Advisory Group has estab- tectonics [15]), and models of early solar system dy- lished a key goal of “Understanding the origin and namics [16]. evolution of Mars as a geological system” (MEPAG Approaches: There are two complimentary ap- Goal 3 and subgoals therein [1]) and is a component of proaches to improving our current understanding of one of the most important goals of planetary science: solar system history. The first is the return of samples understanding the history and duration of events in the for in-/organic analysis and dating on Earth using the solar system, in order to place the evolution of life, and exquisite precision and range of current and future humanity, in context [2]. laboratory instruments. However, a limitation of this Unfortunately, the timing and duration of geologic approach is caused by the need to sample a wide range processes on Mars, and throughout the inner solar sys- of terrains, ultimately requiring many sample returns. tem, suffer from uncertainties that are much larger than After all, Apollo will likely remain the best sample commonly acknowledged. The geologic history of return mission ever, yet the most important decadal Mars, and the inner solar system, is extrapolated from survey goals for the Moon focus on the obtaining more models of lunar impactor flux, crater counts, and ~270 samples for dating [2]. Given the great cost of sample kg of lunar samples analyzed and dated in terrestrial return missions, the Decadal Survey explicitly supports labs. However, the lunar samples primarily constrain in-situ dating [2], with a goal of ±200 Ma or better de- the era from 3.5-4 Ga. For terrains younger than 3.5 scribed in the NASA Technology Roadmap [17]. Ga, uncertainties exceed 1 Ga [3]; specifically, ~3.5 Ga Methods: In order to support future Mars missions, terrains may be 1.1 Ga younger. For Mars, additional we have developed an instrument called the Chemistry, problems are caused by uncertainty in “...the ratio of Organics, and Dating EXperiment (CODEX) that inter- Mars to moon impact rates”, which results in “...abso- rogates hundreds of locations on a sample surface in a lute ages on Mars [that] are only good to a factor of 2 2D grid using three modes: A) laser ablation mass to 4” [4]. For example, the range in estimated terrain spectrometry to measure elemental abundance, B) two- age for the Amazonian period varies by nearly 700 Ma, step laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry to not including the potential uncertainty of 1.1 Ga from measure organics, and C) laser desorption resonance the Moon [5-9]. Clarifying the relationship between ionization mass spectrometry to measure rubidium- impactor flux and surface age will require obtaining strontium geochronology. CODEX produces images of new dates from multiple terrains with a variety of the spatial distribution of chemical elements and or- crater densities. These new constraints will provide ganics, and determines the isochron age of the sample. regional geologic insights as well as global constraints Understanding the rates of change for planetary pro- on crater density and age, and finally, enable new cesses (such as the history of water, climate, and po- models of solar system flux and the surface age of oth- tential biology) as well as providing a new understand- er planetary bodies, such as the Moon. ing of impactor flux for the inner solar system requires Importance: These issues can lead to important multiple new spatially diverse absolute dating mea- changes in our understanding of the history of the solar surements. system, and and hence the environment within which References: 1. MEPAG, 2015. 2. NRC, 2012. 3. life evolved. For example, if new lunar crater counts Robbins, EPSL, 403, 2014. 4. Hartmann, pers. comm. based on better high resolution imaging derived from 2012. 5. Hartmann & Neukum, SSR, 96, 2001. 6. the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera are accu- Hartmann et al, 1049, 1981. 7. Neukum et al, SSR, 96, rate, then numerous consequences arise, including (1) 2001. 8. Tanaka et al, 345, 1992. 9. Robbins & Hynek, the extension of the era of volcanism on the Moon and LPSC #1719, 2013. 10. Fassett et al, GRL, 38, 2011. Mars by up to 1.1 Ga, (2) extending the end of the era 11. Marchi et al, Nature, 499, 2013. 12. Bougher et al, of water on Mars by up to 1.1 Ga, and (3) that life 1997. 13. Korycansky & Zahnle, PSS, 53, 2005. 14. Le arose on Earth not during a period of impact rate Feuvre & Wieczorek, Icarus, 214, 1, 2011. 15. Grieve diminution, but instead during a period of bombard- & Shoemaker, 417, 1994. 16. Michel & Morbidelli, ment twice as high as previously recognized. Follow- MAPS, 42, 1861, 2007.
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