Selection of the Mars Pathfinder landing site

Assessment of Mars Pathfinder Landing Site Predictions

Overview of the Mars Pathfinder mission and assessment of landing site predictions.

Chemical analyses returned by Mars Pathfinder indicate that some rocks may be high in silica, implying differentiated parent materials. Rounded pebbles and cobbles and a possible conglomerate suggest fluvial processes that imply liquid water in equilibrium with the atmosphere and thus a warmer and wetter past. The moment of inertia indicates a central metallic core of 1300 to 2000 kilometers in...

Mineralogy, Abundance, and Hydration State of Sulfates and Chlorides at the Mars Pathfinder Landing Site

soil-free rock rocks Introduction: Detection of elevated concentrations of S and Cl at the landing sites of Viking 1 and 2 [1], and Mars Pathfinder (MP) [2-5] reveals the presence of sulfates and chlorides in soil and rock samples [1-10]. These data are consistent with the findings of Ca sulfates and NaCl in Martian meteorites [11,12], and with Earth-based spectroscopic observations [13,14] ten...

Mars Exploration Rover Landing Site Boulder Fields

1116. [3] Golombek M. et al. (2002) LPS XXXIII Abstract #1245. Golombek M. et al. (2003) LPS XXXIIII1245. Golombek M. et al. (2003) LPS XXXIIII Abstract #1754. [4] Golombek M. et al. (2003) LPS XXXIIII1754. [4] Golombek M. et al. (2003) LPS XXXIIII Abstract #1778. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIV (2003) 1975.pdf1778. Lunar and Planetary Science XXXIV (2003) 1975.pdf

Selection of the landing site in Isidis Planitia of Mars probe Beagle 2

[1] This paper describes selection and characterization of the landing site for the Mars 2004 Beagle 2 mission. The site is within Isidis Planitia between 10 –12 N, 266 – 274 W, centered at 11.6 N, 269.5 W. This is at low elevation ( 3600 to 3900 m MOLA), is flat (MOLA RMS slope = 0.57 ), radar data suggest a smoother surface at decimeter to meter scales than the Pathfinder site and it has a mo...