HR: 14:40h
AN: P33E-01 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: The Importance of a Program of Mars Exploration
AU: * Arvidson, R E
EM: arvidson@wunder.wustl.edu
AF: Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1169, Saint Louis, MO 63130, United States
AB: The exploration of Mars over the past decade has produced extraordinarily exciting scientific results that have also engaged the public in the excitement of exploration and discovery. For example, the Odyssey Gamma Ray Subsystem has been used to map the soil cover thickness and amount of water ice in underlying icy soils at higher latitudes where ice is stable relatively close to the surface. In response to this mapping, the Phoenix Lander will touch down on May 25, 2008 at ~68 degrees north latitude in a region in which both soil (several centimeters of cover) and icy soil are inferred from the Odyssey data to be accessible for sampling and analysis. Phoenix will search for organic molecules that may have been preserved in this "deep freezer," in addition to gathering data on current and past climatic conditions. The acquisition and analysis of Odyssey THEMIS and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE images have been crucial for helping to pick a safe landing site for Phoenix, given the very rocky nature of the high northern plains. The Spirit and Opportunity rovers have been exploring the Martian surface for over three years. Coordinated analyses of rover and orbital data (Mars Global Surveyor, Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and ESA's Mars Express) have allowed rover observations to be placed in a broad geologic context, including delineating the volcaniclastic processes and associated aqueous alteration of rocks in the Columbia Hills and defining the vast areal extent (several hundred thousand square kilometers) and thickness (~1 to 3 km) of the sulfate-rich lacustrine deposits analyzed by Opportunity in Meridiani Planum. These discoveries all focus on understanding the role of water today and in the past on Mars, including helping define whether or not the planet was or is habitable, and whether or not life developed. Further, the rapid pace of the discoveries is a direct consequence of a coordinated program in which core missions are planned with extensive community input based on a theme of understanding Mars as a system, including its habitability and life. In addition, missions of opportunity (Scouts) have been a fundamental element of the program that have allowed a relatively rapid response to new discoveries (e.g., Phoenix). Continued community input, careful planning to maximize scientific return on investment, and consideration of the increasingly internationalization of Mars exploration are fundamental elements of the NASA Mars Exploration Program that, if followed, will lead to even more spectacular discoveries during the next decade.
DE: 5400 PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS
DE: 5470 Surface materials and properties
DE: 6225 Mars
DE: 6600 PUBLIC ISSUES
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting