Report of the 2018 Joint Mars Rover Mission Joint Science Working Group (JSWG) Final Version 26 March 2012 Recommended bibliographic citation: MEPAG JSWG (2012) Report of the 2018 Joint Mars Rover Mission Joint Science Working Group (JWSG), 93 pp., posted March, 2012, by the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) at http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports/. Or: Beaty, D.W., Kminek, G., Allwood, A.C., Arvidson, R., Borg, L.E., Farmer, J. D., Goesmann, F., Grant, J. A., Hauber, E., Murchie, S.L., Ori, G.G., Ruff, S. W., Rull, F., Sephton, M. A., Sherwood Lollar, B., Smith, C. L., Westall, F., Pacros, A.E., Wilson, M.G., Meyer, M.A., Vago, J.L., Bass, D.S., Joudrier, L., Laubach, S., Feldman, S., Trautner, R., Milkovich, S.M. (2012) Report of the 2018 Joint Mars Rover Mission Joint Science Working Group (JSWG), 93 pp., posted March, 2012, by the Mars Exploration Analysis Group (MEPAG) at http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports/. Inquiries regarding this report should be directed to David Beaty ( [email protected] , +1 714 818-354- 7968) or Gerhard Kminek ( [email protected] , +31 71 565 6096) (JSWG co-chairs). Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 4 List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................... 6 1. Background, assumptions, and deliverables ............................................................................................... 8 1.1. Assumptions .............................................................................................................................................. 8 1.2. Deliverables .............................................................................................................................................. 8 1.3. Notes Regarding this Report ..................................................................................................................... 8 2. Methods and Schedule ................................................................................................................................... 9 3. Scientific Objectives ..................................................................................................................................... 11 3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 11 3.2. Discussion of proposed scientific objectives .......................................................................................... 13 3.2.1. Precursor statement ......................................................................................................................... 13 3.2.2. Objective 1 ...................................................................................................................................... 13 3.2.3. Objective 2 ...................................................................................................................................... 14 3.2.4. Objective 3 ...................................................................................................................................... 15 3.2.5. Objective 4: ..................................................................................................................................... 16 4. Implementation Strategies to Achieve Objectives .................................................................................... 17 5. Achieving a Scientifically Compelling Landing Site ................................................................................. 20 5.1. Landing site elevation ............................................................................................................................. 20 5.2. Landing site latitude ............................................................................................................................... 22 5.2.1. Importance of Northern vs. Southern Latitude Terrain for Candidate Landing Sites ..................... 23 5.3. The importance of “go-to” landing sites ................................................................................................ 24 5.4. Landing Site Selection Process ............................................................................................................... 26 6. Scientific Instruments .................................................................................................................................. 26 6.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 26 6.2. Summary of Pasteur Payload (PPL) Instruments ................................................................................... 27 6.2.1. Externally-mounted instruments ..................................................................................................... 27 6.2.2. Instruments in the Analytical Laboratory Drawer (ALD) ............................................................... 28 6.3. New instruments to be competed ............................................................................................................ 30 6.3.1. Mast-mounted imaging instrument ................................................................................................. 32 6.3.2. Competed mast-mounted instrument ............................................................................................... 32 6.3.3. Competed close-up instruments ...................................................................................................... 33 6.3.4. Candidate instruments options (“example instrument payload”) .................................................... 34 6.4. Scientific Instruments infographics ........................................................................................................ 35 7. Science Support Hardware ......................................................................................................................... 36 7.1. Mast ........................................................................................................................................................ 37 7.2. The ExoMars Drill .................................................................................................................................. 38 7.3. Robotic Arm ............................................................................................................................................ 39 7.4. Sample Acquisition and Caching System ................................................................................................ 40 7.5. Surface Preparation Tool ....................................................................................................................... 43 7.6. Analytical Laboratory Drawer (ALD) and Sample Preparation and Distribution System (SPDS) ....... 44 7.7. Science Support Environment ................................................................................................................. 45 7.7.1. Contamination control ..................................................................................................................... 45 7.7.2. Blanks .............................................................................................................................................. 46 7.7.3. Cross-contamination ........................................................................................................................ 47 8. Quantitative aspects of the mission implementation—how many? ......................................................... 47 ii 9. The scientific importance of using organic geochemistry information in selecting samples for the sample cache ........................................................................................................................................................ 49 10. The scientific importance of including a sample from the deep subsurface in the sample cache ...... 50 11. Reference Surface Mission Operations Scenario, and Implications for Minimum Mission Lifetime 52 11.1. Maximizing science return within 1 Martian year (669 sols) ................................................................. 52 11.2. Two Operational Centers ........................................................................................................................ 53 11.3. Looking at a Three-season rover ............................................................................................................ 54 12. Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 57 12.1. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 57 12.2. Recommendations ................................................................................................................................... 58 13. Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................... 58 14. References Cited ........................................................................................................................................ 59 Appendices ..........................................................................................................................................................