Mars Sample Return |
Mars Sample Return |
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#1
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 370 Joined: 12-September 05 From: France Member No.: 495 ![]() |
Next phase reached in definition of Mars Sample Return mission
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMJAGNFGLE_index_0.html |
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#2
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Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 1870 Joined: 20-February 05 Member No.: 174 ![]() |
An essential ingredient in my utterly unofficial vote for a landing site would be the number of essentially DIFFERENT geologic units sampled. Meridiani, other than the sands on top, is essentially one geologic variations-upon-a-theme. Gusev has 2 major players: the basalt plains that buried what we really went there for, and the much older and much more complex and variable materials of the Columbia hills. The more essentially different materials a site has within the primary misison investigation range (and more beyond it), and the more of them that are of "special interest" in terms of paleo-habitable-environments or the like, the better. It would be great to have phylosilicates and sulfate deposits, plus deep seated igneous rocks and eolian layered sediments and channel wash deposits and ... and ... and...
Meridiani is wonderful.. and it's also boooooringgggggggg. |
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#3
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 706 Joined: 22-April 05 Member No.: 351 ![]() |
It would be great to have phylosilicates and sulfate deposits, plus deep seated igneous rocks and eolian layered sediments and channel wash deposits and ... and ... and... I was told by one Mars geologist that there's one place on mars that has the hematite and clay geologic units in close proximity. This is the soutwest Meridiani sites under consideration for MSL. He also said that there are concerns about the safety of the the site from a landing and roving perspective. While edges of units would be nice (at least two geological provinces) you may not get the best examples of either unit there. Picking these sites is hard! -------------------- |
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