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mission instruments
- CRISM: Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars
- CTX: Context Camera
- HiRISE: High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment
- MARSIS: Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding
- SHARAD: Shallow Radar
- THEMIS: Thermal Emission Imaging System
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- Mars Odyssey
- Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) / Mangalyaan
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
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Tag Archives: CRISM
CRISM image: phyllosilicates in Tyrrhena Terra
This image shows spectral signatures of hydrated silicate minerals in Tyrrhena Terra, a heavily-cratered region about 2,300 kilometers (1,430 miles) across, comparable to the length of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Clay-like minerals called phyllosilicates, which in this region are rich … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, CRISM, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, NASA, Tyrrhenus Terra
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CRISM image: high-calcium pyroxene in Bosporus Planum
The two featured images here show iron/magnesium-rich minerals in the Bosporus Planum region of Mars. The Martian crust is made mostly of igneous rock containing the minerals olivine and pyroxene. Pyroxene is the dominant silicate mineral in most igneous rocks … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Bosporus Planum, Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, CRISM, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, water
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Recurring slope lineae discovered deep in Valles Marineris
Discovered in 2011, recurring slope lineae (RSL for short) are narrow, dark lines on steep slopes. They appear and grow longer during the warmest time of year, then fade and disappear over winter. They recur in the same places the … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged brine seeps, brines, brines, CRISM, ground ice, groundwater, HiRISE, ice, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, recurring slope lineae, RSL, Valles Marineris, water
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Hematite ridge: site for Curiosity rover to explore ancient habitability?
A low ridge running along the foot of Mt. Sharp will likely become a prime target for Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory rover as it approaches the mound. The reason, outlined in a recent paper in Geology by Abigail Fraeman … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged CRISM, Curiosity, Gale Crater, habitability, hematite, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Science Laboratory, water
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Mars dust devils travel much faster than surface winds blow
Extending earlier work, a team of Mars scientists led by Dennis Reiss (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Germany) has made simultaneous (or near-) observations of dust devil speeds using cameras on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The cameras include CRISM, CTX, and HiRISE. The … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, CRISM, CTX, Curiosity, dust devils, Gale Crater, HiRISE, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Science Laboratory, MSL
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Ancient Mars biosphere: deep underground?
Something like half of Earth’s entire biomass lies underground in the form of microorganisms living off geothermal heat and chemicals in the crustal rocks. Could the same hold true for Mars, now or in bygone times? If so, it’s hard … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged biosphere, carbonate minerals, clay minerals, CRISM, groundwater, Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, McLaughlin Crater, MGS, microorganisms, TES, THEMIS, Thermal Emission Spectrometer
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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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Salty flows on Mars
The features known as “recurring slope lineae” (RSL) are the best evidence going that liquid water can, and does, flow on present-day Mars. The lineae are small dark streaks that appear mostly on equator-facing slopes, are associated with slope channels, … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged brines, CRISM, lineae, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, recurring slope lineae, RSL, water
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Changing times in Syrtis Major
Early Mars appears to have been highly unlike today, being warmer and wetter. To find out why and how the environment changed, scientists look for inflection points in Martian history, where one geological regime gives way to another. A report … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged clay minerals, CRISM, Isidis Planitia, lava, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, olivine, phyllosilicates, Syrtis Major
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Mars mineral bonanza?
If you could go to only one location on Mars, where would you find the most complete assortment of known Martian minerals? A new report, with lead author Patrick Thollot (Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, CNRS), in the Journal of … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged clay minerals, climate change, CRISM, HiRISE, HRSC, hydrated minerals, Noctis Labyrinthus, opal, phyllosilicates, silicates, sulfates, Tharsis
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