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Phobos and Deimos Sample Return: Importance, Challenges, & Strategy

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Phobos and Deimos Sample Return: Importance, Challenges, & Strategy Phobos and Deimos Sample Return: Importance, Challenges, & Strategy Pascal Lee Mars Institute, SETI Institute, & NASA Ames Research Center 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 2 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 3 Deimos Phobos 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 4 Origin: A Vexing Mystery What Are the Moons of Mars? Four Decades after Mariner 9, we still don’t know what Phobos and Deimos are. Hypotheses: • Captured Asteroids Primitive • Mars Accretion Remnants Primitive • Mars Impact Ejecta Evolved • Reaccreted Captured Asteroids Primitive + Evolved • Reaccreted Mars Accretion Remnants Primitive + Evolved • Reaccreted Mars Impact Ejecta Highly Evolved Are Phobos and Deimos Related to Each Other? 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 5 Importance of Phobos & Deimos 1) Origin - What is the Nature and Origin of the Moons of Mars? - Are they Related to Each Other? 2) Early Solar System - Phobos & Deimos must hold clues to Early Solar System Processes. Presolar Processes, Primitive Small Body Formation, Capture, Satellite Formation, Collisional Evolution, Ring Formation, Tidal Evolution, Asteroidal Float. 3) Mars Connection - Phobos & Deimos hold a record of Mars’s Evolution: Impact Record, Possible Martian Meteoritic Record (Mostly Dust) - Planetary Protection: Roles for Mars Sample Return. PhD SR = Rehearsal for MSR, Quarantine Caches for Global MSR 4) Resources for Future Human Exploration - H2O (?), Metals (?), Organics (?), Regolith (?). - Attractive Targets for Early Human Missions to Mars. 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 6 Importance of Phobos & Deimos Phobos and Deimos are at the Crossroads of Major Solar System Exploration Issues. Mars Capture & Early Atmosphere, Precursor Missions, Satellite Formation & Evol., Planetary Protection Impact Record Early Resources for Phobos & Deimos Solar System Human Exploration Asteroid Belt Population, NEO Exploration Primitive Body Formation & Evolution Small Bodies 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 7 Kaidun Meteorite A Meteorite From Phobos? 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 8 Kaidun Meteorite From a Parent Body That Has Seen a Lot • Fell on 3 Dec 1980, Kaidun Soviet Military Base, Al-Khuraybah, Yemen. • Single mass: ~2 kg (4.4 lb). • Complex rock: Polymict Regolithic Microbreccia. • Mostly a CR2 Carbonaceous Chondrite (CC). • Contains Clasts of Other CCs (C1, CM1-2, CV3) and EH3-5, EL3, R chondrites. • Contains ~ 60 minerals, including unique ones: e.g., florenskiite (FeTiP). Origin: Phobos? • Contains two isolated alkaline-rich clasts that entered the rock at different times. Parent Body mostly primitive, but exposed to collisions with wide range of other primitive bodies and to a repeated source of alkaline-rich rocks, i.e., to a thoroughly differentiated body. • Was the differentiated body Mars? Is Kaidun a Sample of Phobos? (Ivanov 2004, (Zolensky and Ivanov 2004). Key Message • Rocks & Regolith on Phobos and Deimos are likely as Complex and Rich as Kaidun. • Detailed Sample Analysis (incl. isotopics) is needed. 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 9 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 10 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 11 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 12 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 13 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 14 Phobos & Deimos: Spectra (Rivkin et al. 2009) 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 15 Phobos & Deimos: Spectra • Phobos Redder Unit and Deimos Reddish, Dark Primitive asteroid or space-weathered mafics? No 1µm mafic mineral band Not mafic asteroid or from mafic planet (Mars), but maybe Primitive (C, D or P-type) asteroid? No bound water or OH Not C-type asteroid, but maybe D-type? (anhydrous) No organics Not C-type asteroid, but maybe D-type? 0.65µm ferric band (~CMs) Primitive asteroid w/ ferric phyllosilicates? Consistent w/ anhydrous primitive asteroid w/ ferric phyllosilicates, possibly D-type. • Phobos Bluer Unit Reddish gray (flatter), Dark Primitive asteroid or unweathered mafics? No 1µm mafic mineral band Not from mafic planet (Mars) or mafic asteroid. No bound water or OH Not C-type asteroid, but maybe D-type? (anhydrous) No 0.65µm ferric band Not a ferric primitive asteroid. (And Redder Unit cannot be Space-Weathered Bluer Unit) Consistent with anhydrous primitive asteroid, but NON-ferric. Type? 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 16 Phobos-Deimos SRM Challenges Phobos and Deimos are likely Not be What They Seem to Be. • The martian orbital environment is dynamic. • Phobos and Deimos may both be coated by Asteroidal and Mars Dust. • Phobos appears to be coated by Deimos Dust. • Remote Sensing has hit an Impasse. • Need Sample Analysis, but how will we access Samples Representative of their Bulk? Phobos and Deimos may be Unrelated to Each Other • Representative samples need to be collected not just on Phobos or Deimos, but on Both! Need to samples Boulders on Phobos and Deimos • The vast majority of large boulders on Phobos and Deimos must be impact ejecta blocks (S. Lee et al. 1983, P. Lee et al 1996). • These blocks are the only reliable representatives of Phobos and Deimos’s Bulk. 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 17 Phobos-Deimos SRM Strategy Need “Rock Dock” SRMs • Need to land “within an arm’s length” of Boulders to sample them. • PRIME Mission (Optech-MI-MDA / CSA) does “Rock Dock” to sample Phobos. • Hall Mission (NASA GRC + MI-SI-NASA ARC) does “Rock Dock” to sample both Phobos and Deimos (Lee et al. 2010). • Amor Mission (SI- NASA ARC) does “Rock Dock” on Primitive NEA. Perfect Precursor. 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 18 Conclusion Phobos & Deimos Sample Return Importance - Phobos & Deimos at Crossroads of Major Solar System Exploration Issues. - Potential for Major Discoveries re Mars and Early Solar System is HUGE. - Need detailed analysis (inc. isotopic) of samples representative of Phobos and Deimos’s Bulk and of their Regolith. Challenge - Phobos & Deimos are likely NOT what they seem to be. Remote sensing has hit impasse. - Grab-N-Go SR is not an assured way of sampling Phobos and Deimos properly. - Analysis (incl. isotopic) of Boulders + Regolith on both Phobos and Deimos is needed to get to bottom of what they are, and determine how they relate to each other and/or Mars. Strategy - Need a “Rock Dock” Phobos & Deimos Sample Return Mission, like Hall (Lee et al. 2010). - Need Precursor Precision Lander Mission to Primitive NEA, like Amor (Jones et al.2010). 5 March 2011 P. Lee - SSSRM Workshop 19 .
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