scholarly journals The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover Mastcam instruments: Preflight and in-flight calibration, validation, and data archiving

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 396-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Bell ◽  
A. Godber ◽  
S. McNair ◽  
M. A. Caplinger ◽  
J. N. Maki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Science Laboratory ◽  
Mars Science Laboratory ◽  
Data Archiving ◽  
Curiosity Rover

scholarly journals Gale crater: the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Rover Landing Site

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Wray
Keyword(s):  
Clay Minerals ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Spectral Properties ◽  
Landing Site ◽  
Science Laboratory ◽  
Deep Lakes ◽  
Mars Science Laboratory ◽  
Gale Crater ◽  
Diagenetic Processes ◽  
Curiosity Rover

AbstractGale crater formed from an impact on Mars ∼3.6 billion years ago. It hosts a central mound nearly 100 km wide and ∼5 km high, consisting of layered rocks with a variety of textures and spectral properties. The oldest exposed layers contain variably hydrated sulphates and smectite clay minerals, implying an aqueous origin, whereas the younger layers higher on the mound are covered by a mantle of dust. Fluvial channels carved into the crater walls and the lower mound indicate that surface liquids were present during and after deposition of the mound material. Numerous hypotheses have been advocated for the origin of some or all minerals and layers in the mound, ranging from deep lakes to playas to mostly dry dune fields to airfall dust or ash subjected to only minor alteration driven by snowmelt. The complexity of the mound suggests that multiple depositional and diagenetic processes are represented in the materials exposed today. Beginning in August 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity will explore Gale crater by ascending the mound's northwestern flank, providing unprecedented new detail on the evolution of environmental conditions and habitability over many millions of years during which the mound strata accumulated.

Verification and Validation of the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Rover Entry, Descent, and Landing System

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 1251-1269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. Kornfeld ◽  
Ravi Prakash ◽  
Ann S. Devereaux ◽  
Martin E. Greco ◽  
Corey C. Harmon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Verification And Validation ◽  
Science Laboratory ◽  
Mars Science Laboratory ◽  
Curiosity Rover

scholarly journals Large wind ripples on Mars: A record of atmospheric evolution

Science ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 353 (6294) ◽  
pp. 55-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. A. Lapotre ◽  
R. C. Ewing ◽  
M. P. Lamb ◽  
W. W. Fischer ◽  
J. P. Grotzinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kinematic Viscosity ◽  
Angle Of Repose ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Science Laboratory ◽  
Mars Science Laboratory ◽  
Atmospheric Evolution ◽  
Fluid Drag ◽  
Current Ripples ◽  
Large Wind ◽  
Curiosity Rover

Wind blowing over sand on Earth produces decimeter-wavelength ripples and hundred-meter– to kilometer-wavelength dunes: bedforms of two distinct size modes. Observations from the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal that Mars hosts a third stable wind-driven bedform, with meter-scale wavelengths. These bedforms are spatially uniform in size and typically have asymmetric profiles with angle-of-repose lee slopes and sinuous crest lines, making them unlike terrestrial wind ripples. Rather, these structures resemble fluid-drag ripples, which on Earth include water-worked current ripples, but on Mars instead form by wind because of the higher kinematic viscosity of the low-density atmosphere. A reevaluation of the wind-deposited strata in the Burns formation (about 3.7 billion years old or younger) identifies potential wind-drag ripple stratification formed under a thin atmosphere.

scholarly journals A Review of the Phyllosilicates in Gale Crater as Detected by the CheMin Instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity Rover

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 847
Author(s):  
Valerie M. Tu ◽  
Elizabeth B. Rampe ◽  
Thomas F. Bristow ◽  
Michael T. Thorpe ◽  
Joanna V. Clark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Science Laboratory ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Mars Science Laboratory ◽  
Microbial Life ◽  
Gale Crater ◽  
Sedimentary Deposits ◽  
Aqueous Environments ◽  
Key Indicators ◽  
Strategic Goal ◽  
Curiosity Rover

Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, landed on Mars in August 2012 to investigate the ~3.5-billion-year-old (Ga) fluvio-lacustrine sedimentary deposits of Aeolis Mons (informally known as Mount Sharp) and the surrounding plains (Aeolis Palus) in Gale crater. After nearly nine years, Curiosity has traversed over 25 km, and the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) X-ray diffraction instrument on-board Curiosity has analyzed 30 drilled rock and three scooped soil samples to date. The principal strategic goal of the mission is to assess the habitability of Mars in its ancient past. Phyllosilicates are common in ancient Martian terrains dating to ~3.5–4 Ga and were detected from orbit in some of the lower strata of Mount Sharp. Phyllosilicates on Earth are important for harboring and preserving organics. On Mars, phyllosilicates are significant for exploration as they are hypothesized to be a marker for potential habitable environments. CheMin data demonstrate that ancient fluvio-lacustrine rocks in Gale crater contain up to ~35 wt. % phyllosilicates. Phyllosilicates are key indicators of past fluid–rock interactions, and variation in the structure and composition of phyllosilicates in Gale crater suggest changes in past aqueous environments that may have been habitable to microbial life with a variety of possible energy sources.

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