Publications
Filter Total Items: 910
Mars Astrobiological Cave and Internal habitability Explorer (MACIE): A New Frontiers mission concept
Martian subsurface habitability and astrobiology can be evaluated via a lava tube cave, without drilling. MACIE addresses two key goals of the Decadal Survey (2013–2022) and three MEPAG goals. New advances in robotic architectures, autonomous navigation, target sample selection, and analysis will enable MACIE to explore the Martian subsurface.
Authors
C. M. Phillips-Lander, A. Agha-mohamamdi, J. J. Wynne, Timothy N. Titus, N. Chanover, C. Demirel-Floyd, Kyle Uckert, Kaj E. Williams, D Wyrick, J. Blank, Penelope J. Boston, K. Mitchell, A Kereszturi, J. Martin-Torres, S. Shkolyar, N. Bardabelias, S. Datta, K. Retherford, Lydia Sam, A. Bahardwaj, A. Fairén, D. Flannery, Roger C. Wiens
A rock record of complex aeolian bedforms in a Hesperian desert landscape: The Stimson formation as exposed in the Murray Buttes, Gale Crater, Mars
Lithified aeolian strata encode information about ancient planetary surface processes and the climate during deposition. Decoding these strata provides insight regarding past sediment transport processes, bedform kinematics, depositional landscape, and the prevailing climate. Deciphering these signatures requires a detailed analysis of sedimentary architecture to reconstruct dune morphology, motio
Authors
Steve G. Banham, Sanjeev Gupta, David M. Rubin, Kenneth S. Edgett, Robert Barnes, Jason K. Van Beek, Jessica A. Watkins, Lauren A. Edgar, Christopher M. Fedo, Rebecca M. E. Williams, Kathryn M. Stack, John P. Grotzinger, Kevin Lewis, Ryan C. Ewing, Mackenzie D. Day, Ashwin R. Vasavada
The role of the Next Generation Lunar Scientists and Engineers (NextGen) group in lunar science and exploration
Founded in 2008, the Next Generation Lunar Scientists and Engineers (NextGen) is a group of students and early career professionals who have a vision and passion for lunar science and exploration. NextGen organizes professional development opportunities through workshops and networking events that are designed to provide resources and training for scientists and engineers so that they are prepared
Authors
Ryan Watkins, Lillian R. Ostrach, Sarah Valencia, Amanda Stadermann, Lora Bleacher, Noah E. Petro, Tess Caswell, Amy Fagan, Erica Jawin, Heather Meyer, Deanna Phillips, Hannah O'Brien
Airborne dust plumes lofted by dislodged ice blocks at Russell Crater, Mars
Linear dune gullies on poleward-facing Martian slopes are enigmatic. Formation by CO2-ice block or snow cornice falls has been proposed based on optical imagery of bright, high-albedo features inside gully channels. Because these features often resemble patchy frost residue rather than three-dimensional blocks, more evidence is needed to support the ice-block formation mechanism. Satellite imagery
Authors
Cynthia L. Dinwiddie, Timothy N. Titus
Airborne dust plumes lofted by dislodged ice blocks at Russell crater, Mars
Linear dune gullies on poleward‐facing Martian slopes are enigmatic. Formation by CO2‐ice block or snow cornice falls has been proposed based on optical imagery of bright, high‐albedo features inside gully channels. Because these features often resemble patchy frost residue rather than three‐dimensional blocks, more evidence is needed to support the ice‐block formation mechanism. Satellite imagery
Authors
Cynthia Dinwiddie, Timothy N. Titus
The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mast camera zoom (Mastcam-Z) multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation
Mastcam-Z is a multispectral, stereoscopic imaging investigation on the Mars 2020 mission’s Perseverance rover. Mastcam-Z consists of a pair of focusable, 4:1 zoomable cameras that provide broadband red/green/blue and narrowband 400-1000 nm color imaging with fields of view from 25.6° × 19.2° (26 mm focal length at 283 μrad/pixel) to 6.2° × 4.6° (110 mm focal length at 67.4 μrad/pixel). The camera
Authors
J. F. Bell, J. N. Maki, G. L. Mehall, M. A. Ravine, M. A. Caplinger, Z. J. Bailey, S. Brylow, J. A. Schaffner, K. M. Kinch, M. B. Madsen, A. Winhold, A. G. Hayes, P. Corlies, C. Tate, M. Barrington, E. Cisneros, E. Jensen, Katy L. Parise, Kelon Crawford, C. Rojas, L. Mehall, J. Joseph, J. B. Proton, N. Cluff, R. G. Deen, B. Betts, Edward A. Cloutis, A. J. Coates, Anthony Colaprete, K. S. Edgett, B. L. Ehlmann, Sarah A. Fagents, J. P. Grotzinger, C. Hardgrove, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Briony H. N. Horgan, R. Jaumann, J. R. Johnson, M. T. Lemmon, G. Paar, M Caballo-Perucha, S. Gupta, C Traxler, F. Preusker, M. S. Rice, M. S. Robinson, N. Schmitz, R. Sullivan, M. J. Wolff
Availability of subsurface water-ice resources in the northern mid-latitudes of Mars
Multiple nations and private entities are pushing to make landing humans on Mars a reality. The majority of proposed mission architectures envision ‘living off the land’ by leveraging Martian water-ice deposits for fuel production and other purposes. Fortunately for mission designers, water ice exists on Mars in plentiful volumes. The challenge is isolating accessible ice deposits within regions t
Authors
Gareth A Morgan, Nathaniel E Putzig, Matthew R Perry, Hanna G Sizemore, Ali M Bramson, Eric I Petersen, Zach M Bain, David M H Baker, Marco Mastrogiuseppe, Rachel H Hoover, Isaac B. Smith, Asmin V Pathare, Colin M. Dundas, Bruce A Campbell
Modern Mars' geomorphological activity, driven by wind, frost, and gravity
Extensive evidence of landform-scale martian geomorphic changes has been acquired in the last decade, and the number and range of examples of surface activity have increased as more high-resolution imagery has been acquired. Within the present-day Mars climate, wind and frost/ice are the dominant drivers, resulting in large avalanches of material down icy, rocky, or sandy slopes; sediment transpor
Authors
Serina Diniega, Ali M Bramson, Bonnie J. Buratti, Peter Buhler, Devon M. Burr, Matthew Chojnacki, Susan J. Conway, Colin M. Dundas, Candice J. Hansen, Alfred S. McEwen, Mathieu G.A. Lapotre, Joseph S. Levy, Lauren McKeown, Sylvain Piqueux, Ganna Portyankina, Christy Swann, Timothy N. Titus, Jacob Widmer
Knowledge inventory of foundational data products in planetary science
Some of the key components of any Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructure (PDSI) are the data products that end-users wish to discover, access, and interrogate. One precursor to the implementation of a PSDI is a knowledge inventory that catalogs what products are available, from which data producers, and at what initially understood data qualities. We present a knowledge inventory of foundational PS
Authors
Jason Laura, Ross A. Beyer
Widespread exposures of extensive clean shallow ice in the mid-latitudes of Mars
Although ice in the Martian midlatitudes is typically covered by a layer of dust or regolith, it is exposed in some locations by fresh impact craters or in erosional scarps. In both cases, the exposed ice is massive or excess ice with a low lithic content. We find that erosional scarps occur between 50° and 61° north and south latitude and that they are concentrated in and near Milankovič crater i
Authors
Colin M. Dundas, Michael T. Mellon, Susan J. Conway, Ingrid J. Daubar, Kaj E. Williams, Lujendra Ojha, James J. Wray, Ali Bramson, Shane Byrne, Alfred S. McEwen, Liliya Posiolova, Gunnar Speth, Donna Viola, Margaret E. Landis, Gareth A Morgan, Asmin V Pathare
Mars: Abundant recurring slope lineae (RSL) following the planet-encircling dust event (PEDE) of 2018
Recurring slope lineae (RSL) are dark linear markings on Mars that regrow annually and likely originate from the flow of either liquid water or granular material. Following the great dust storm (or planet-encircling dust event, PEDE) of Mars year (MY) 34, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter/High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment has seen many more candidate RSL than in typical Mars years. They have be
Authors
Alfred S. McEwen, Ethan I Schaefer, Colin M. Dundas, Sarah S. Sutton, Leslie K Tamppari, Matthew Chojnacki
Mars Subsurface Water Ice Mapping 2.0 data products and results
This work describes the results of the Mars Subsurface Water Ice Mapping (SWIM) project, with results on the distribution of ice on Mars from geomorphic, radar, and thermal analyses.
Authors
Nathaniel E Putzig, Gareth A Morgan, Zachary M Bain, David M Hollibaugh Baker, Ali M Bramson, Samuel W Courville, Colin M. Dundas, Rachel H Hoover, Stefano Nerozzi, Asmin V Pathare, Matthew R Perry, Eric I Petersen, Hanna G Sizemore, Bruce A Campbell, Marco Mastrogiuseppe, Michael T. Mellon, Isaac B. Smith