Publications
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Surface properties of Mars' polar layered deposits and polar landing sites Surface properties of Mars' polar layered deposits and polar landing sites
On December 3, 1999, the Mars Polar Lander and Mars Microprobes will land on the planet's south polar layered deposits near (76°S, 195°W) and conduct the first in situ studies of the planet's polar regions. The scientific goals of these missions address several poorly understood and globally significant issues, such as polar meteorology, the composition and volatile content of the...
Authors
Ashwin R. Vasavada, Jean-Pierre Williams, David A. Paige, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Nathan T. Bridges, Ronald Greeley, Bruce C. Murray, Deborah S. Bass, Karen S. McBride
Mars south polar spring and summer behavior observed by TES: seasonal cap evolution controlled by frost grain size Mars south polar spring and summer behavior observed by TES: seasonal cap evolution controlled by frost grain size
Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) observations of the recession phase of Mars' south polar cap are used to quantitatively map this recession in both thermal and visual appearance. Geographically nonuniform behavior interior to the cap is characterized by defining several small regions which exemplify the range of behavior. For most of the cap, while temperatures remain near the CO2...
Authors
Hugh H. Kieffer, Timothy N. Titus, Kevin F. Mullins, Phillip R. Christensen
Results of the Imager for Mars Pathfinder windsock experiment Results of the Imager for Mars Pathfinder windsock experiment
The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) windsock experiment measured wind speeds at three heights within 1.2 m of the Martian surface during Pathfinder landed operations. These wind data allowed direct measurement of near-surface wind profiles on Mars for the first time, including determination of aerodynamic roughness length and wind friction speeds. Winds were light during periods of...
Authors
Robert Sullivan, Ronald Greeley, Michael Kraft, Gregory Wilson, Matthew P. Golombek, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, James Murphy, Peter Smith
Central Valles Marineris: uncontrolled Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbital Camera (MOC) digital context photomosaic (250 megapixel resolution) Central Valles Marineris: uncontrolled Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbital Camera (MOC) digital context photomosaic (250 megapixel resolution)
These images were processed from a raw format using Integrated Software for Images and Spectrometers (ISIS) to perform radiometric corrections and projection. All the images were projected in sinusoidal using a center longitude of 70 degrees. There are two versions of the mosaic, one unfiltered (vallesmos.tif), and one produced with all images processed through a box filter with an...
Authors
Eric Noreen
The state and future of Mars polar science and exploration The state and future of Mars polar science and exploration
As the planet's principal cold traps, the martian polar regions have accumulated extensive mantles of ice and dust that cover individual areas of ∼106 km2 and total as much as 3–4 km thick. From the scarcity of superposed craters on their surface, these layered deposits are thought to be comparatively young—preserving a record of the seasonal and climatic cycling of atmospheric CO2, H2O...
Authors
S.M. Clifford, D. Crisp, D.A. Fisher, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, S.E. Smrekar, P.C. Thomas, D. D. Wynn-Williams, R.W. Zurek, J.R. Barnes, B.G. Bills, E.W. Blake, W. M. Calvin, J.M. Cameron, M. H. Carr, P. R. Christensen, B. C. Clark, G.D. Clow, J.A. Cutts, D. Dahl-Jensen, W.B. Durham, F. P. Fanale, J.D. Farmer, F. Forget, K. Gotto-Azuma, R. Grard, R.M. Haberle, W. Harrison, R. Harvey, A.D. Howard, A.P. Ingersoll, P.B. James, J.S. Kargel, H. H. Kieffer, J. Larsen, K. Lepper, M. C. Malin, D. J. McCleese, B. Murray, J.F. Nye, D. A. Paige, S.R. Platt, J.J. Plaut, N. Reeh, J.W. Rice, D.E. Smith, C. R. Stoker, K. L. Tanaka, E. Mosley-Thompson, T. Thorsteinsson, S.E. Wood, A. Zent, M.T. Zuber, H.J. Zwally
Sinus Meridiani: uncontrolled Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbital Camera (MOC): digital context photomosaic (250 megapixel resolution) Sinus Meridiani: uncontrolled Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbital Camera (MOC): digital context photomosaic (250 megapixel resolution)
These images were processed from a raw format using Integrated Software for Images and Spectrometers (ISIS) to perform radiometric corrections and projection. All the images were projected in sinusoidal using a center longitude of 0 degrees. There are two versions of the mosaic, one unfiltered (sinusmos.tif), and one produced with all images processed through a box filter with an...
Authors
Eric Noreen
Variability of Mars' North Polar water ice cap: I. Analysis of Mariner 9 and Viking Orbiter imaging data Variability of Mars' North Polar water ice cap: I. Analysis of Mariner 9 and Viking Orbiter imaging data
Previous studies interpreted differences in ice coverage between Mariner 9 and Viking Orbiter observations of Mars' north residual polar cap as evidence of interannual variability of ice deposition on the cap. However, these investigators did not consider the possibility that there could be significant changes in the ice coverage within the northern residual cap over the course of the...
Authors
Deborah S. Bass, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, David A. Paige
Does Europa have a subsurface ocean? Evaluation of the geological evidence Does Europa have a subsurface ocean? Evaluation of the geological evidence
It has been proposed that Jupiter's satellite Europa currently possesses a global subsurface ocean of liquid water. Galileo gravity data verify that the satellite is differentiated into an outer H2O layer about 100 km thick but cannot determine the current physical state of this layer (liquid or solid). Here we summarize the geological evidence regarding an extant subsurface ocean...
Authors
Robert T. Pappalardo, Michael J.S. Belton, H.H. Breneman, M. H. Carr, Clark R. Chapman, G.C. Collins, T. Denk, S. Fagents, Paul E. Geissler, B. Giese, R. Greeley, R. Greenberg, J.W. Head, P. Helfenstein, G. Hoppa, S.D. Kadel, K.P. Klaasen, James E. Klemaszewski, K.P. Magee, Alfred S. McEwen, J. M. Moore, W.B. Moore, G. Neukum, C. B. Phillips, L.M. Prockter, G. Schubert, D.A. Senske, R.J. Sullivan, B.R. Tufts, E. P. Turtle, Robert Wagner, K.K. Williams
Observations of Phobos, Deimos, and bright stars with the Imager for Mars Pathfinder Observations of Phobos, Deimos, and bright stars with the Imager for Mars Pathfinder
The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was used to observe several objects during the Martian night. The satellites, Phobos and Deimos, were observed on two occasions each, through the IMP geological filters covering the wavelength range 440 nm to 1 μm. The observations were converted to geometric albedo using triaxial ellipsoid models of the satellites and phase functions derived from...
Authors
Nick Thomas, D.T. Britt, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Scott L. Murchie, B. Semenov, H.U. Keller, P. H. Smith
Mars Pathfinder spectral measurements of Phobos and Deimos: Comparison with previous data Mars Pathfinder spectral measurements of Phobos and Deimos: Comparison with previous data
The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) acquired four spectra of parts of the sub‐Mars hemispheres of Phobos and Deimos. The measured region of Phobos is expected to be a mixture of the two spectral units identified on that satellite from Phobos 2 data, and the IMP spectra of Phobos are intermediate to the two units as expected. The derived geometric albedo is consistent with the value for...
Authors
Scott L. Murchie, Nick Thomas, Daniel Britt, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, James F. Bell
Overview of the Mars Pathfinder Mission: Launch through landing, surface operations, data sets, and science results Overview of the Mars Pathfinder Mission: Launch through landing, surface operations, data sets, and science results
Mars Pathfinder successfully landed at Ares Vallis on July 4, 1997, deployed and navigated a small rover about 100 m clockwise around the lander, and collected data from three science instruments and ten technology experiments. The mission operated for three months and returned 2.3 Gbits of data, including over 16,500 lander and 550 rover images, 16 chemical analyses of rocks and soil...
Authors
M. P. Golombek, R. C. Anderson, J.R. Barnes, J. F. Bell, N. T. Bridges, D.T. Britt, J. Bruckner, R. A. Cook, D. Crisp, J.A. Crisp, T. Economou, W. M. Folkner, R. Greeley, R.M. Haberle, R.B. Hargraves, J.A. Harris, A. F. C. Haldemann, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, S.F. Hviid, R. Jaumann, J. R. Johnson, P. H. Kallemeyn, H.U. Keller, Randolph L. Kirk, J. M. Knudsen, S. Larsen, M. T. Lemmon, M.B. Madsen, J.A. Magalhaes, J.N. Maki, M.C. Malin, R. M. Manning, J. Matijevic, H.Y. McSween, H. J. Moore, S.L. Murchie, J.R. Murphy, T. J. Parker, R. Rieder, T.P. Rivellini, J. T. Schofield, A. Seiff, R.B. Singer, P. H. Smith, Laurence A. Soderblom, D.A. Spencer, C. R. Stoker, R. Sullivan, N. Thomas, S.W. Thurman, M.G. Tomasko, R. M. Vaughan, H. Wänke, A. W. Ward, G.R. Wilson
General geology and geomorphology of the Mars Pathfinder landing site General geology and geomorphology of the Mars Pathfinder landing site
The Mars Pathfinder (MPF) spacecraft landed on relatively young (late Hesperian-early Amazonian; 3.1-0.7 Ga) plains in Chryse Planitia near the mouth of Ares Vallis. Images returned from the spacecraft reveal a complex landscape of ridges and troughs, large hills and crater rims, rocks and boulders of various sizes and shapes, and surficial deposits, indicating a complex, multistage...
Authors
A. W. Ward, Lisa R. Gaddis, Randolph L. Kirk, Laurence A. Soderblom, K. L. Tanaka, M.P. Golombek, T. J. Parker, Ronald Greeley, R.O. Kuzmin