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Dataset card Data Studio Files
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recognize carbonates, silicates, organic molecules and minerals formed in
water. Infrared data will also help scientists assess the capacity of rocks and
soils to hold heat over the wide temperature range of a martian day. Besides
studying rocks, the instrument will be pointed upward to make the first-ever
high-resolution temperature profiles through the martian atmosphere's boundary
layer. The data from the instrument will be complement that obtained by the
thermal emission spectrometer on the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter.
The instruments on the rover arm are:
! The Microscopic Imager is a combination of a microscope and a camera. It
will produce extreme closeup views (at a scale of hundreds of microns) of rocks
and soils examined by other instruments on the rover arm, providing context for
the interpretation of data about minerals and elements. The imager will help
characterize sedimentary rocks that formed in water, and thus will help scientists
understand past watery environments on Mars. This instrument will also yield
information on the small-scale features of rocks formed by volcanic and impact
activity as well as tiny veins of minerals like the carbonates that may contain
microfossils in the famous Mars meteorite, ALH84001. The shape and size of
particles in the martian soil can also be determined by the instrument, which
provides valuable clues about how the soil formed.
! Because many of the most important minerals on Mars contain iron, the
Mössbauer Spectrometer is designed to determine with high accuracy the
composition and abundance of iron-bearing minerals that are difficult to detect
by other means. Identification of iron-bearing minerals will yield information
about early martian environmental conditions. The spectrometer is also capable
of examining the magnetic properties of surface materials and identifying
minerals formed in hot, watery environments that could preserve fossil evidence
of martian life. The instrument uses two pieces of radioactive cobalt-57, each
about the size of a pencil eraser, as radiation sources. The instrument is
provided by Germany.
! The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer will accurately determine the
elements that make up rocks and soils. This information will be used to
complement and constrain the analysis of minerals provided by the other
science instruments. Through the use of alpha particles and X-rays, the
instrument will determine a sample's abundances of all major rock-forming
elements except hydrogen. Analyzing the elemental make-up of martian surface
materials will provide scientists with information about crustal formation,
weathering processes and water activity on Mars. The instrument uses small
amounts of curium-244 for generating radiation. It is provided by Germany.
! The arm-mounted instruments will be aided by a Rock Abrasion Tool that
will act as the rover's equivalent of a geologist's rock hammer. Positioned
against a rock by the rover's instrument arm, the tool uses a grinding wheel to
remove dust and weathered rock, exposing fresh rock underneath. The tool will
expose an area 4.5 centimeters (2 inches) in diameter, and grind down to a
depth of as much as 5 millimeters (0.2 inch).
In addition, the rovers are equipped with the following that work in conjunction with sci-
ence instruments:
! Each rover has three sets of Magnet Arrays that will collect airborne dust
for analysis by the science instruments. Mars is a dusty place, and some of that
particles and their patterns of accumulation on magnets of varying strength can
reveal clues about their mineralogy and the planet´s geologic history. One set
of magnets will be carried by the rock abrasion tool. As it grinds into martian
these outer rock surfaces. A second set of two magnets is mounted on the front
of the rover for the purpose of gathering airborne dust. These magnets will be
reachable for analysis by the Mössbauer and alpha particle X-ray
spectrometers. A third magnet is mounted on the top of the rover deck in view of
the panoramic camera. This magnet is strong enough to deflect the paths of
wind-carried, magnetic dust. The magnet arrays are provided by Denmark.
! Calibration Targets are reference points that will help scientists fine-tune
observations not only from imagers but also other science instruments. The
Mössbauer spectrometer, for example, uses as a calibration target a thin slab of
rock rich in magnetite. The alpha particle X-ray spectrometer uses a calibration
target on the interior surfaces of doors designed to protect its sensor head from
martian dust. The miniature thermal emission spectrometer has both an internal
target located in the mast assembly as well as an external target on the rover's
The panoramic camera's calibration target is, by far, the most unique the rover
carries. It is in the shape of a Sundial and is mounted on the rover deck. The
camera will take pictures of the sundial many times during the mission so that
scientists can make adjustments to the images they receive from Mars. They
will use the colored blocks in the corners of the sundial to calibrate the color in
images of the Martian landscape. Pictures of the shadows that are cast by the
sundial's center post will allow scientists to properly adjust the brightness of
each camera image. Children provided artwork for the sides of the base of the
Landing Sites
Selection of the landing sites for the two Mars Exploration Rovers involved over two years of inten-
sive study by more than 100 scientists and engineers. Their job was to find sites that offered both
excellent chances for a safe landing and outstanding science after the landings are achieved.
To qualify for consideration, candidate sites had to be near Mars' equator, low enough in elevation
(so the spacecraft would pass through enough atmosphere to slow them), not too rugged, not too
rocky and not too dusty. In all, 155 potential sites met the initial safety constraints. The two that
made the final cut satisifed all of the safety criteria; they also show powerful evidence of past liquid
water, but in two very different ways:
! Gusev Crater, named after the 19th-century Russian astronomer Matvei Gusev, is an
impact crater about 150 kilometers (95 miles) in diameter and about 15 degrees south of
Mars' equator. It lies near the transition between the planet's ancient highlands to the south
and smoother plains to the north.
What makes Gusev an attractive landing site is a 900-kilometer-long (550-mile)
meandering valley that enters the crater from the southeast. Called Ma'adim Vallis (from
the Hebrew name for Mars), this valley is believed to have been eroded long ago by
flowing water. The water likely cut through the crater's rim and filled much of the crater,
creating a large lake not unlike current crater lakes here on Earth such as Lake Bosumtwi
in Ghana). The lake is gone now, but the floor of Gusev Crater may contain water-laid
sediments that still preserve a record of what conditions were like in the lake when
the sediments were deposited.
Are lake sediments still preserved at Gusev Crater, or have they been buried by younger
geologic materials? If sediments can be found, what do they reveal about the conditions
that existed in the lake? Did the lake create an environment that would have been suitable
for life? Are there other clues at Gusev that can reveal more about whether Mars had a
warmer, wetter past?
! Meridiani Planum is near the martian equator, halfway around the planet from Gusev.
The region of the planet in which it lies has been known as Meridiani since the earliest