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Tag Archives: Mars Exploration Rovers
Dust drifts: new windblown feature on Mars?
Mars has ample loose material blowing around on its surface, a fact which has been known and studied for decades and more. However scientists have paid little attention to sedimentary deposits of dust. New work using detailed images from the … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged dunes, dust, eolian, HiRISE, LPSC 2013, Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MER, wind
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Hardened arteries in Nili and Nilo
Water seeping through conduits and cracks in the deep subsurface rocks of Nilosyrtis and Nili Fossae left behind minerals, like hard-water deposits that collect in the plumbing of your house. (Or cholesterol in your arteries.) Then as the softer rocks … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged clay minerals, cracks, CTX, Curiosity, fractures, Gale Crater, groundwater, gypsum, HiRISE, Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MSL, Nili Fossae, Nilosyrtis, Opportunity, phyllosilicates, water
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Lava flows resurfaced crater lakes after water was gone
Fire and water didn’t mix when it came to resurfacing basins that lie along Martian fluvial valley networks. A study of some 30 open-basin lakes (paleolakes) with floors covered by lava flows has concluded that at least these basins were … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged CRISM, CTX, Gusev Crater, HiRISE, HRSC, lava flows, Mars Exploration Rovers, OMEGA, open-basin lakes, paleolakes, Spirit, TES, THEMIS
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Not-so-everlasting hills
When the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit reached the top of Husband Hill in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater on August 22, 2005, it stood 107 meters (351 feet) above its landing site. Yet if recent work is right, the … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Columbia Hills, Gusev Crater, HiRISE, Husband Hill, Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, Navcam, Pancam, Spirit
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“Blueberries” could date when Meridiani rocks were last wet
The relative amount of three chemical elements contained in Martian “blueberries” might offer scientists a way to date when these spherules were last inundated with water, according to recent research. Rich in the iron mineral hematite, blueberries are small concretions, … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged concretions, Curiosity, Gale Crater, hematite, jarosite, Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Science Laboratory, MER, Meridiani Planum, Opportunity, water
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Mars Rover Opportunity explores Cape York
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity reached the south end of Cape York, a segment of the rim of Endeavour Crater about 700 meters (2,300 feet) long, on August 9, 2011. Scientists and engineers examined several targets there before driving the rover … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged breccia, Cape York, Greeley Haven, gypsum, Homestake, impact melt, impacts, Kidd Creek, Mars Exploration Rovers, Meridiani Planum, Opportunity, Tisdale, water
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How old is Meridiani Planum?
The smooth, flat plain where Mars rover Opportunity landed in January 2004 looks spookily empty. Only a few rocks and meteorites, plus foot-high sand dunes and ripples, break the endless vista under a clear tawny sky. How long has the … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged craters, Endeavour Crater, HiRISE, LPSC 2012, Mars Exploration Rovers, Meridiani Planum, Opportunity, wind
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Home Plate’s volcanic bomb landed with a splat
One of the unusual features that Mars Exploration Rover Spirit discovered at Home Plate, a former hydrothermal vent in the Columbia Hills, was a “bomb sag,” complete with its partially embedded volcanic bomb. To geologists, volcanic bombs are rocks or … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, bomb sag, climate, climate change, Home Plate, hot springs, Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit, water
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Opportunity discovers water-precipitated gypsum at Cape York
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found thumb-wide veins of gypsum in a rock layer at Cape York, the Endeavour Cater rim segment where it will spend the coming Martian winter. The discovery was announced at the fall meeting of … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Crater Lake, Endeavour Crater, gypsum, Homestake, Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, Opportunity, Tisdale, Transvaal
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High ground on Cape York rim segment named Shoemaker Ridge
Scientists with the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity have given the name of Shoemaker Ridge to the highest “spine” of the Cape York segment of Endeavour Crater’s rim. The rover arrived at Cape York in early August and has been exploring … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged craters, Endeavour Crater, Mars Exploration Rovers, MER, Meridiani Planum, Opportunity, Shoemaker Ridge
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