Context. The orientation and rotation of Mars can be described by a set Euler angles (longitude, obliquity, angles) estimated from radioscience data (tracking orbiters landers), which then used to infer the planet's internal properties. are analyzed using modeling expressed within barycentric celestial reference system (BCRS). This includes several relativistic contributions that need properly ...

Introduction: Impact events locally increase the temperature of a planetary crust, initiating hydrother-mal activity if water or ice is present. Impact-induced hydrothermal activity is responsible for mineralogical-ly and morphologically modifying many terrestrial craters [e.g., 1], and has been suggested for Martian craters [2, 3]. Present-day subsurface ice has been inferred at high latitudes...

The design and construction of underground structures are significantly affected by the distribution geological formations. Prediction interfaces using limited data has been a difficult task. A multivariate adaptive regression spline (MARS) method capable modeling nonlinearities automatically was used in this study to spatially predict elevations interfaces. Borehole from two sites Singapore we...

This paper describes recent work toward developing a terramechanics-based modeling and validation infrastructure for characterizing the Curiosity rovers mobility properties on the Mars surface. The resulting simulation tool, ARTEMIS (Adams-based Rover Terramechanics and Mobility Interaction Simulator), is composed of a MSC-Adams dynamic rover model, a library of terramechanics subroutines, and ...

Introduction: The current data infrastructure of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission revolves around the availability of communication windows between Earth-based science teams, engineers, etc. With the upcoming 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission and the next-generation planetary missions to Mars this data infrastructure must be modified to account for the large increase and eventu...

Modeling improvements of nonconservative forces affectingMars-orbiting spacecraft are presented in this study. Recent high-resolution gravity fields enable the recovery of smaller signals in the radio tracking data, previously obscured bymismodeled gravitational anomalies. In particular, the estimation of the atmospheric drag experienced by the spacecraft benefits from the new forcemodels.More ...

Introduction: Soils on Mars have been analyzed by the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) and most recently by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover. Chemical analyses from a majority of soil samples suggest that there is a relatively uniform global soil composition across much of the planet [1]. A soil site, Rocknest, was sampled by the MSL science payload including the CheMin X-ray diffractometer...

Features seen in portions of a typical midlatitude Martian impact crater show that gully formation follows a geologically recent period of midlatitude glaciation. Geological evidence indicates that, in the relatively recent past, sufficient snow and ice accumulated on the pole-facing crater wall to cause glacial flow and filling of the crater floor with debris-covered glaciers. As glaciation wa...