nasa’s exploration plan: “follow the water” geology life climate prepare for human exploration...
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water”
GEOLOGYGEOLOGY
LIFELIFE
CLIMATECLIMATE
Prepare for Human Exploration
Prepare for Human Exploration
When • Where • Form • Amount
WATER
NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration
![Page 2: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Mars Global Surveyor (1997-2006)
Global topography (elevation)
discovery of recent water-carved gullies
First orbiter around Mars since Viking (mid-1970’s)
Recently lost after 10 years of successful operations.
![Page 3: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Science Package
![Page 4: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
1997 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
• Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA)– Global 500 m resolution grid with < 1 m
vertical resolution
• Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)– Few-meter resolution camera– more than 120,000 released images
• Thermal Emission Spectrometer– Near-Infrared broadband spectrometer
• rock, ice, and atmosphere compositions• thermal structure of the Martian surface
![Page 5: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Pre-MGS Global Topography
![Page 6: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
MGS Topography
![Page 7: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
![Page 8: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
2011 Mars Science Laboratory
![Page 9: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
2011 MSL Key Goals
• Characterize a site that:
– was a habitable environment.• What does this mean?
– is likely to have preserved biosignatures.
– can be related to the “Big Picture”.
![Page 10: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
![Page 11: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Let’s watch it now!
![Page 12: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
2009 Mars Science Laboratory
![Page 13: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
![Page 14: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Keeping in Mind the Key MSL Goals…
• Characterize a site that:
– was a habitable environment.• What does this mean?
– is likely to have preserved biosignatures.
– can be related to the “Big Picture”.
![Page 15: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
VL1MPF
MER-B
VL2
MER-A
2007 Phoenix
Where would you land a $2.3B spacecraft?
![Page 16: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
![Page 17: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
![Page 18: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
![Page 19: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
But how can we assess the engineering and safety of the
landing sites??
![Page 20: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
GIS to the rescue!
![Page 21: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Four Finalist Candidate Landing Sites
Eberswalde Crater (24°S, 327°E, -1.5 km) contains a clay-bearing delta formed when an ancient river deposited sediment, possibly into a lake.
Gale Crater (4.5°S, 137°E, -4.5 km) contains a 5-km sequence of layers that vary from clay-rich materials near the bottom to sulfates at higher elevation.
Mawrth Vallis (24°N, 341°E, -2.2 km) exposes layers within Mars’ surface with differing mineralogy, including at least two kinds of clays.
Holden Crater (26°S, 325°E, -1.9 km) has alluvial fans, flood deposits, possible lake beds, and clay-rich sediment.
![Page 22: NASA’s Exploration Plan: “Follow the Water” GEOLOGY LIFE CLIMATE Prepare for Human Exploration When Where Form Amount WATER NASA’s Strategy for Mars Exploration](https://reader036.vdocuments.mx/reader036/viewer/2022062804/5697bf9e1a28abf838c94370/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)