Sol 4512, October 3, 2016. The Microscopic Imager takes a multi-frame composite (2 MB) of target Gasconade at Spirit Mound (right). Above, the front Hazcam captures the bigger picture. Click either image to enlarge it.
Opportunity raw images, its latest mission status, a location map. and atmospheric opacity, known as tau.
THEMIS Image of the Day, October 3, 2016. This VIS image shows some of the multiple layers of ice that make up the South Polar cap.
More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.
Sol 1477-79, September 30, 2016, update by USGS scientist Ryan Anderson: Everything went well in our previous plan and we are making slow but steady progress over rough terrain toward our next drill location. We should get there by next weekend!
Today’s plan starts off with a bunch of remote sensing on Sol 1477. Navcam has an atmospheric observation, followed by ChemCam analysis of the targets “Chadibe”, “Bobonong”, and “Dukwi”. Mastcam will document those targets once ChemCam is done with them, as well as the ChemCam AEGIS target from yesterday. Mastcam also has a small mosaic of the target “Etsha” to study its fine-scale… [More at link]
This image was acquired on 29 September 2006. The MRO spacecraft had just finished aerobraking—dipping into Mars’ atmosphere to slow down the spacecraft and circularize the orbit. MRO was now in the lowest circular orbit of any Mars spacecraft, with its altitude varying from approximately 250 to 320 kilometers.
When this image was released, it demonstrated that HiRISE would achieve the spatial resolution and image quality needed to revolutionize our understanding of Mars’ surface. The image shows diverse surface units (bedrock, sand, dust) and complex patterns of faulting in the bedrock. [More at link]
THEMIS Image of the Day, September 30, 2016. Today’s VIS image shows sand dune forms in Juventae Chasma. In this part of Juventae Chasma the entire floor appears to be covered by sand and dunes. The oval patch of “choppy” dunes was shaped by winds blowing from several directions.
More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.
NASA’s Curiosity rover has found evidence that chemistry in the surface material on Mars contributed dynamically to the makeup of its atmosphere over time. It’s another clue that the history of the Red Planet’s atmosphere is more complex and interesting than a simple legacy of loss.
The findings come from the rover’s Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, instrument suite, which studied the gases xenon and krypton in Mars’ atmosphere. The two gases can be used as tracers to help scientists investigate the evolution and erosion of the Martian atmosphere. A lot of information about xenon and krypton in Mars’ atmosphere came from analyses of Martian meteorites and measurements made by the Viking mission.
“What we found is that earlier studies of xenon and krypton only told part of the story,” said Pamela Conrad, lead author of the report and SAM’s deputy principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “SAM is now giving us the first complete in situ benchmark against which to compare meteorite measurements.”
Of particular interest to scientists are the ratios of certain isotopes – or chemical variants – of xenon and krypton. The SAM team ran a series of first-of-a-kind experiments to measure all the isotopes of xenon and krypton in the Martian atmosphere. The experiments are described in a paper published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. [More at links]
Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, September 29, 2016: Solmaz Adeli (DLR, Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin). The Amazonian period on Mars, meaning roughly the last 3 Ga, is globally believed to have been cold and hyperarid [e.g., Marchant and Head, 2007]. Recent geomorphological observations, however, have revealed the presence of well-preserved Amazonian-aged fluvial valleys in both the north and south mid-latitude regions of Mars [Howard and Moore, 2011; Hobley et al., 2014; Salese et al., 2016; Wilson et al., 2016].
These features point to one or several climate change phase(s) during Amazonian which could have sustained liquid water at the martian surface. These climate changes could have been triggered by obliquity oscillations [Laskar et al., 2004] causing the transportation of ice from polar regions and its re-deposition at lower latitudes. Episodic melting events during Amazonian, subsequently, formed valleys and other fluvial features, in the mid-latitude regions. [More at link]
Sol 1474, September 28, 2016. The Mars Hand-Lens Imager (MAHLI) has made a multi- frame composite (big: 5.9 MB) that sweeps down across the Kopong outcrop. (The area shown lies at the left end of the outcrop as imaged here, and MAHLI’s viewing angle is more straight-on to the outcrop’s end.)
The close-up views detail the rock’s weathering texture and the light mineral veins, probably calcite, which lace through it. Click image to enlarge.
Sol 1474 raw images (from all cameras), and Curiosity’s latest location.
Sol 1475-76, September 28, 2016, update by USGS scientist Ken Herkenhoff: We’re planning two sols, so it’s been busier for me today as SOWG Chair. The science team had a lot of good ideas for new observations, so it was a challenge to fit them all into the plan, but in the end all went well. On Sol 1475, the arm will be moved out of the way to allow ChemCam and Mastcam multispectral observations of the Jwaneng brush spot and an outcrop target named “Munhango.” The Right Mastcam will also acquire mosaics of targets dubbed “Luremo,” “Nata,” and “Maun” before the rover drives away. In addition to the usual post-drive imaging, ChemCam will autonomously acquire chemical… [More at link]
Last week on Mars, a dust haze continued to loom over Noachis and other regions of the southern highlands. A bit further to the south, small local-scale dust storms were observed along the receding seasonal south polar ice cap edge. Looking to the northern hemisphere, a pulse of storm activity pushed southward over Chryse and a couple short-lived dust storms were observed southwest of Elysium Mons. On the following sol, large dust… [More at link, including video]
