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Tag Archives: smectites
Mars minerology points to cold, icy ancient climate
The climate throughout Mars’ early history has long been debated – was the Red Planet warm and wet, or cold and icy? New research published in Icarus provides evidence for the latter. Mars is littered with valley networks, deltas and … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged clay minerals, climate, climate change, gypsum, iron oxides, polyhydrated sulfates, Sisyphi Montes, Sisyphi Planum, smectites, tuyas, volcanics, volcanism, zeolites
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Opportunity report by A.J.S. Rayl, The Planetary Society
May 10, 2016: Opportunity Sleuths New Site for Smectites: After capturing a rare image of a dust devil whirling through the interior of Endeavour Crater at the end of March, Opportunity and the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) team pressed on … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Cape Tribulation, clay minerals, Endeavour Crater, Hinners Point, Knudsen Ridge, Marathon Valley, Mars Exploration Rover, MER, NASA, Opportunity, phyllosilicates, smectites
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Opportunity field report, May 5, 2016
Sol 4365, May 5, 2016; Rover Field Report by Larry Crumpler, MER Science Team & New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science: Opportunity arrived at its current location on sol 4345 to begin investigation of an outcrop on the crest … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Cape Tribulation, clay minerals, Endeavour Crater, Hinners Point, Knudsen Ridge, Marathon Valley, Mars Exploration Rover, MER, NASA, Opportunity, smectites
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Opportunity field report, April 1, 2016
Sol 4333, April 1, 2016; Rover Field Report by Larry Crumpler, MER Science Team & New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science: On this sol here on the west rim of Endeavour crater Opportunity has climbed west and up Marathon … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Cape Tribulation, clay minerals, Endeavour Crater, Knudsen Ridge, Marathon Valley, Mars Exploration Rover, MER, NASA, Opportunity, smectites
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Opportunity: Moving higher for firmer ground & clay minerals
Sol 4323, March 23, 2016. Opportunity is exploring Marathon Valley because orbital spectrometry found exposures of water-altered clay minerals in the valley. But with the ground proving too loose to allow Opportunity to reach its intended outcrop target at Pvt. … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, clay minerals, Curiosity, Gale Crater, LPSC 2016, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA, Naukluft Plateau, phyllosilicates, Pvt. Joseph Whitehouse, smectites, Stimson Formation
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Opportunity: Sol 3703, June 24, 2014
A two-frame Pancam composite image looks over the summit of Solander Point’s Murray Ridge, which Opportunity has been climbing since August 2013. In the background rises the higher summit of Cape Tribulation, the next rim segment to the south. It … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Cape Tribulation, clay minerals, Endeavour Crater, Mars Exploration Rover, MER, Murray Ridge, NASA, Opportunity, smectites, Solander Point
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Opportunity explores aluminum-bearing site
With its solar panels their cleanest in years, NASA’s decade-old Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is inspecting a section of crater-rim ridgeline chosen as a priority target due to evidence of a water-related mineral. Orbital observations of the site by another … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged aluminum phyllosilicates, aluminum-hydroxyl clays, clay minerals, clays, Endeavour Crater, Mars Exploration Rover, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MER, montmorillonites, Murray Ridge, NASA, Opportunity, Pillinger Point, smectites, Solander Point
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