New Mars Express And Huygens Results, ESA conference - November 30, 2005 |
New Mars Express And Huygens Results, ESA conference - November 30, 2005 |
Guest_paulanderson_* |
Nov 22 2005, 06:15 PM
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Guests |
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMA96ULWFE_index_0.html
Relating to Mars Express: "At the same time, ESA’s Mars Express mission is continuing its investigations of Mars, painting a new picture of the 'red planet'. This includes the first ever probing below the surface of Mars, new geological clues with implications for the climate, newly-discovered surface and atmospheric features and, above all, traces of the presence of water on this world." |
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Dec 7 2005, 08:26 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1870 Joined: 20-February 05 Member No.: 174 |
Clearly, there needs to be close cooperation between ESA and NASA on picking rover sites. But given that both rovers are (I presume) being designed to go into smaller landing site footprints (that can fit in more complex terrain). As surface mineralogic mapping improves in resolution and mineral discriminability, it will be more and more likely we'll be able to target landing sites with primary target lithologies, like the clay minerals, and secondary targets nearby, perhaps younger sulfate deposits.
Opportunity's landing site is a good example of what would be a TERRIBLE site for an advanced rover. Once Oppy reaches Victoria crater, there's almost nowhere to go. Endless variations on dunes and etched terrain extending far beyond plausible rover traverse distances. I don't know where the current "Terra Meridiani" deposits of phyllosilicates are, but one possibility might be the far northeast edge of Meridiani Sinus, where some of the fantastically etched multi-layered deposits of the "meridiani badlands" are being stripped off of old cratered terrain. If so, you could explore some of the old terrain's geology, and a fantastically better exposed sample of the younger deposits. (The old terrain's exposures might not be nearly as well "opened up" as in channels or chaotic terrain, though.) |
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