Publications
Filter Total Items: 990
Mars Exploration Program 2007 Phoenix landing site selection and characteristics Mars Exploration Program 2007 Phoenix landing site selection and characteristics
To ensure a successful touchdown and subsequent surface operations, the Mars Exploration Program 2007 Phoenix Lander must land within 65° to 72° north latitude, at an elevation less than −3.5 km. The landing site must have relatively low wind velocities and rock and slope distributions similar to or more benign than those found at the Viking Lander 2 site. Also, the site must have a soil...
Authors
R. Arvidson, D. Adams, G. Bonfiglio, P. Christensen, S. Cull, Matthew P. Golombek, J. Guinn, E. Guinness, T. Heet, Randolph L. Kirk, A. Knudson, M. Malin, M. Mellon, Alfred S. McEwen, A. Mushkin, T. Parker, F. Seelos, K. Seelos, P. Smith, D. Spencer, T. Stein, L. Tamppari
The discovery of columnar jointing on Mars The discovery of columnar jointing on Mars
We report on the discovery of columnar jointing in Marte Valles, Mars. These columnar lavas were discovered in the wall of a pristine, 16-km-diameter impact crater and exhibit the features of terrestrial columnar basalts. There are discontinuous outcrops along the entire crater wall, suggesting that the columnar rocks covered a surface area of at least 200 km2, assuming that the rocks...
Authors
Moses P. Milazzo, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Windy L. Jaeger, Mark R. Rosiek, Sarah Mattson, C. Verba, Ross A. Beyer, Paul E. Geissler, Alfred S. McEwen
Size and shape of Saturn's moon Titan Size and shape of Saturn's moon Titan
Cassini observations show that Saturn’s moon Titan is slightly oblate. A fourth-order spherical harmonic expansion yields north polar, south polar, and mean equatorial radii of 2574.32 ± 0.05 kilometers (km), 2574.36 ± 0.03 km, and 2574.91 ± 0.11 km, respectively; its mean radius is 2574.73 ± 0.09 km. Titan’s shape approximates a hydrostatic, synchronously rotating triaxial ellipsoid but...
Authors
Howard A. Zebker, Bryan Stiles, Scott Hensley, Ralph Lorenz, Randolph L. Kirk, Jonathan Lunine
Determining Titan surface topography from Cassini SAR data Determining Titan surface topography from Cassini SAR data
A technique, referred to as SARTopo, has been developed for obtaining surface height estimates with 10 km horizontal resolution and 75 m vertical resolution of the surface of Titan along each Cassini Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) swath. We describe the technique and present maps of the co-located data sets. A global map and regional maps of Xanadu and the northern hemisphere hydrocarbon...
Authors
Bryan W. Stiles, Scott Hensley, Yonggyu Gim, David M. Bates, Randolph L. Kirk, Alex Hayes, Jani Radebaugh, Ralph D. Lorenz, Karl L. Mitchell, Philip S. Callahan, Howard Zebker, William T.K. Johnson, Stephen D. Wall, Jonathan I. Lunine, Charles A. Wood, Michael Janssen, Frederic Pelletier, Richard D. West, Chandini Veeramacheneni
Mapping products of Titan's surface Mapping products of Titan's surface
Remote sensing instruments aboard the Cassini spacecraft have been observed the surface of Titan globally in the infrared and radar wavelength ranges as well as locally by the Huygens instruments revealing a wealth of new morphological features indicating a geologically active surface. We present a summary of mapping products of Titan's surface derived from data of the remote sensing...
Authors
Katrin Stephan, Ralf Jaumann, Erich Karkoschka, Jason W. Barnes, Martin G. Tomasko, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Lucille Le Corre, Mirjam Langhans, Stephane Le Mouelic, Ralf D. Lorenz, Jason Perry
Overview of the magnetic properties experiments on the Mars Exploration Rovers Overview of the magnetic properties experiments on the Mars Exploration Rovers
The Mars Exploration Rovers have accumulated airborne dust on different types of permanent magnets. Images of these magnets document the dynamics of dust capture and removal over time. The strongly magnetic subset of airborne dust appears dark brown to black in Panoramic Camera (Pancam) images, while the weakly magnetic one is bright red. Images returned by the Microscopic Imager reveal...
Authors
M.B. Madsen, W. Goetz, P. Bertelsen, C.S. Binau, F. Folkmann, H.P. Gunnlaugsson, J.I. Hjollum, S.F. Hviid, J. Jensen, K.M. Kinch, K. Leer, D.E. Madsen, J. Merrison, M. Olsen, H.M. Arneson, J.F. Bell, Ralf Gellert, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, J. R. Johnson, M. J. Johnson, G. Klingelhofer, E. McCartney, D. W. Ming, R.V. Morris, J.B. Proton, D. Rodionov, M. Sims, S. W. Squyres, T. Wdowiak, A. S. Yen
Martian mud volcanism: Terrestrial analogs and implications for formational scenarios Martian mud volcanism: Terrestrial analogs and implications for formational scenarios
The geology of Mars and the stratigraphic characteristics of its uppermost crust (mega-regolith) suggest that some of the pervasively-occurring pitted cones, mounds, and flows may have formed through processes akin to terrestrial mud volcanism. A comparison of terrestrial mud volcanism suggests that equivalent Martian processes likely required discrete sedimentary depocenters, volatile...
Authors
James A. Skinner, A. Mazzini
Deformation band clusters on Mars and implications for subsurface fluid flow Deformation band clusters on Mars and implications for subsurface fluid flow
High-resolution imagery reveals unprecedented lines of evidence for the presence of deformation band clusters in layered sedimentary deposits in the equatorial region of Mars. Deformation bands are a class of geologic structural discontinuity that is a precursor to faults in clastic rocks and soils. Clusters of deformation bands, consisting of many hundreds of individual subparallel...
Authors
Chris Okubo, Richard A. Schultz, Marjorie A. Chan, Goro Komatsu
VIMS spectral mapping observations of Titan during the Cassini prime mission VIMS spectral mapping observations of Titan during the Cassini prime mission
This is a data paper designed to facilitate the use of and comparisons to Cassini/visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) spectral mapping data of Saturn's moon Titan. We present thumbnail orthographic projections of flyby mosaics from each Titan encounter during the Cassini prime mission, 2004 July 1 through 2008 June 30. For each flyby we also describe the encounter geometry...
Authors
J. W. Barnes, J.M. Soderblom, R. H. Brown, B. J. Buratti, Christophe Sotin, K. H. Baines, R. N. Clark, R. Jaumann, T. B. McCord, R. Nelson, Stéphane Le Mouélic, S. Rodriguez, C. Griffith, P. Penteado, F. Tosi, K.M. Pitman, L. Soderblom, K. Stephan, P. Hayne, G. Vixie, J.-P. Bibring, G. Bellucci, F. Capaccioni, P. Cerroni, A. Coradini, D. P. Cruikshank, P. Drossart, V. Formisano, Y. Langevin, D. L. Matson, P. D. Nicholson, B. Sicardy
Shoreline features of Titan's Ontario Lacus from Cassini/VIMS observations Shoreline features of Titan's Ontario Lacus from Cassini/VIMS observations
We analyze observations of Titan's south polar lake Ontario Lacus obtained by Cassini's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer during the 38th flyby of Titan (T38; 2007 December 5). These near-closest-approach observations have the highest signal-to-noise, the finest spatial resolution, and the least atmospheric influence of any near-infrared lake observation to date. We use the large...
Authors
J. W. Barnes, R. H. Brown, J.M. Soderblom, L.A. Soderblom, R. Jaumann, B. Jackson, Stéphane Le Mouélic, Christophe Sotin, B. J. Buratti, K.M. Pitman, K. H. Baines, R. N. Clark, P. D. Nicholson, E. P. Turtle, J. Perry
Assessment of planetary geologic mapping techniques for Mars using terrestrial analogs: The SP Mountain area of the San Francisco Volcanic Field, Arizona Assessment of planetary geologic mapping techniques for Mars using terrestrial analogs: The SP Mountain area of the San Francisco Volcanic Field, Arizona
We photogeologically mapped the SP Mountain region of the San Francisco Volcanic Field in northern Arizona, USA to evaluate and improve the fidelity of approaches used in geologic mapping of Mars. This test site, which was previously mapped in the field, is chiefly composed of Late Cenozoic cinder cones, lava flows, and alluvium perched on Permian limestone of the Kaibab Formation...
Authors
Kenneth L. Tanaka, James A. Skinner, Larry S. Crumpler, James M. Dohm
Ultrahigh resolution topographic mapping of Mars with MRO HiRISE stereo images: Meter-scale slopes of candidate Phoenix landing sites Ultrahigh resolution topographic mapping of Mars with MRO HiRISE stereo images: Meter-scale slopes of candidate Phoenix landing sites
The objectives of this paper are twofold: first, to report our estimates of the meter‐to‐decameter‐scale topography and slopes of candidate landing sites for the Phoenix mission, based on analysis of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images with a typical pixel scale of 3 m and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images...
Authors
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Mark R. Rosiek, Jeffery A. Anderson, Brent A. Archinal, Kris J. Becker, D.A. Cook, Donna M. Galuszka, Paul E. Geissler, Trent M. Hare, I.M. Holmberg, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Bonnie L. Redding, W.A. Delamere, D. Gallagher, J.D. Chapel, Eric M. Eliason, R. King, Alfred S. McEwen