-
Recent Posts
Archives
Links
general
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
missions
- All Mars missions list
- Curiosity rover
- ExoMars
- Hope (al-Amal) orbiter
- InSight
- Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN)
- Mars Exploration Rovers (MER)
- Mars Express (MEX)
- Mars Odyssey
- Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) / Mangalyaan
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
- Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
- Perseverance Rover
- Tianwen-1 orbiter/rover
news
Tag Archives: gypsum
Could Mars gypsum preserve microbes?
Sulfate minerals, such as calcium sulfates (gypsum), are common in areas on Mars, having been documented with data from satellites, landers, and rovers. Could these minerals also preserve the remains of ancient life, ask Kathleen Counter Benison and Francis Karmanocky III … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged alunite, bacteria, clay minerals, diatoms, green algae, gypsum, halite, hematite, hydrated sulfates, jarosite, life, sulfur
Comments Off
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
Comments Off
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
1 Comment
Ice cap winds spread polar gypsum
The north polar cap of Mars is surrounded by a vast dune field, about as large as Earth’s Kalahari Desert, that contains extensive deposits of gypsum. The gypsum’s origin has been debated since the mineral was discovered in 2005, yet … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged basal unit, climate change, CRISM, dunes, dust, gypsum, ice cap, katabatic winds, north polar ice cap, OMEGA, polar layered deposits, wind
Comments Off
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
Comments Off