The 2004 Mars ExplorationRover Mission

Evidence for Water and Prospects for Life

Produced by and for the Hot Science – Cool Talks Outreach Lecture Series of the Environmental Science Institute. We request that the use of any of these materials include an acknowledgement of Dr. John Grotzinger, and the Hot Science – Cool

Talks Outreach Lecture Series of the Environmental Science Institute of the University of Texas at Austin. We hope you find these materials educational and enjoyable.

Dr. John GrotzingerHot Science - Cool Talks Volume 38

The 2004 Mars ExplorationRover Mission:

Evidence for Water andProspects for Life

John Grotzingeron behalf of

MER Athena Science Team

Mars Science Strategy

CommonThread

Mars Science Strategy:Follow the Water!

LIFE

CLIMATE

GEOLOGY

HUMAN

The Athena Science Payload

The Athena Science Payload

Remote Sensing Package Pancam Mast Assembly (PMA) Pancam Mini-TES

In-Situ Package Instrument Deployment Device (IDD) Microscopic Imager Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer Mössbauer Spectrometer Rock Abrasion Tool

MagneticPropertiesExperiment

The Team

The Team

Mars Pathfinder

Mars Pathfinder

The MER Rover

Wrap it up and cram it in…

Wrap it up and cram it in……

The Three Challenging Mission Phases

The Three Challenging Mission Phases

Launch & Cruise

Entry, Descent & Landing

Egress & Surface

Operations

Video by Dan Mass

Opportunity at Meridiani Planum

Meridiani

Gusev

2000 km

Hematite: Mineralogic Beacon

Hematite Distribution Map from Tes Data5oN

6oS10oW

0

0 2oE

15% hematite0%

(Figure based on Christensen et al., (2001) JGR, v. 106(E10), Plate 2, p.23,877.)

Meridiani Landing Site

Hole in One

Eagle Crater

Backshell and Parachute

Backshell and Parachute

You are here

You are here

A Martian Eclipse

Short-Timescale Temperature Excursions

Red = hotPurple = cold

Red to purpleis 2 K (degrees Kelvin)

• Largest temperature variations confined to lowest 100 meters or so

• Appears that temperature perturbations propagate upward

Minutes past 1000 hours (sol 12)

21 22 23 25 272624 2928

0

0.6

0.4

0.2

1

0.8

Hei

ght A

bove

Sur

face

(km

)

Dust Devils

Dust Devils

Opportunity: View from Lander

Spirit: View from Lander

5 metres

5 metres

The first rock investigated by Opportunity

Schematic representation of the

Mössbauer

Spectrometer

Mössbauer Spectrum of El Capitan

Mössbauer Spectrum of El Capitan: Meridiani Planum Jarosite: (K, Na, X+1)Fe3(SO4) (OH)6

Rio Tinto, Spain

Andy Knoll

Spherules

Spherules

5 mm

The “Berry Bowl”

Mössbauer on the Berry Bowl

Sediment Bedforms

Sediment Bedforms (e.g. Ripples)

Ancient Terrestrial Ripples

Ancient Terrestrial Ripples: 1.4 Billion Years Old

Ripple Cross-Bedding in 3-D

Ripple Cross-Bedding in 3D

Bedforms in Flowing Water

Bedforms in Flowing Water

Southard and Bouchwal,1990

Antidunes

Upper Plane Beds

Dunes

NoSedimentMovement

Ripples

V. Fine Sand V. Coarse Sand

LowerPlaneBeds

Median grain diameter (mm)

Mea

n f

low

vel

oci

ty (

m s

ec-1)

0.1 0.5 1.0 2.0

0.2

2.0

1.0

0.6

Current Ripples in Water

Current Ripples in Water

Flume experiments by Dave Rubin and Jon Nelson, USGS

6 hours of ripple migration

Image is 60x40 cm

Current Ripples in Cross Section

Simulation by Dave Rubin, USGS

Festoon Cross-Bedding on Earth

Festoon Cross-Bedding on Earth

Festoon Cross-Bedding on Mars

Festoon Cross-Bedding on Mars

Burns formation2.0 m

Burns formation (Endurance crater)

Burns Stratigraphy

Burns Stratigraphy

m

6

5

4

3

2

1

7

Lo

wer

Un

itL

ow

er U

nit

Lo

wer

Un

it

Interdune/PlayaFestoon Cross-lamination

Wavy BeddingTranslatent Strata

Whatanga Contact

Zone of RecrystallizationCapillary Fringe of Water Table?

Eolian Sand SheetTranslatent StrataLow-Angle Strata

Wellington Contact

Deflation SurfaceWater Table Controlled?

Eolian Dune FieldCross-Bedded Sandstone

Modern Sand Dunes on Mars

Modern Sand Dunes on Mars

~ 50 cm

Interdune

Surface

InterduneSurface

Interdune Deflation Surface

Interdune Deflation Surface

Modern Mars Analog

Modern Mars Analog:

Um Asamin

Formation of evaporite salts

Modern Interdune

Depression

Modern Interdune Depression

Endurance Chemostratigraphy

~ 50 cm

Ratio to surface rock averageD

ep

th in c

rate

r

Changes Down Section: Texture

Ontario Diamond Jenness

• Meridiani environment appears to have been acidic, hypersaline, and only intermittently wet.

• Life exists at such extremes on Earth.• But Meridiani data suggest potential challenges to

origin as well as persistence of life.

Rio TintoExtremophiles

Andy Knoll

• Evidence of any life that might have existed might well be preserved in chemical sediments and concretions.

• Chemical and textural details of Meridiani salts and iron oxides likely to reveal much about environmental history.

The Good News

• All this favors Meridiani Planum as a target for sample return.

Andy Knoll

Summary

• Rovers have:– Operated for over 1200 days– Returned over 100,000 images– Analyzed dozens of rocks and soils

Summary

• Evidence for water:– Mössbauer detection of jarosite– Crystal molds, concretions, diagenesis– Festoon ripple cross-bedding– Stratigraphic succession of environments

Summary

• Prospects for Life:– Preservation potential is good– But did life originate under such extreme

conditions?

Dr. John GrotzingerFletcher Jones Professor of GeologyCalifornia Institute of Technology

John Grotzinger is a field geologist interested in the co-evolution of surficial environments and life on Earth and Mars. His research addresses the chemical development of the early oceans and atmosphere, and the environmental context of early evolution. Field mapping studies are the starting point for more topical laboratory-based studies involving geochemical, paleontological, and geochronological techniques.

Currently, his research is focused on the reconstruction of environmental conditions associated with the Cambrian radiation of animals in Oman, Namibia and Siberia. In 2004, he served as a member of both the Geology and Long Term Planning Groups for the Mars Exploration Rover mission.