The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover will land in Gale Crater on Mars in August 2012. The planned landing site is an alluvial fan near the base of the crater's central mound. Orbital remote sensing of this 5 km high mound indicates the presence of hydrated sulfates, interstratified with smectite and hematite-bearing layers. Minerals formed in an aqueous environment are of particular interest given that water is a fundamental ingredient of living systems and that MSL's prime science objective is to investigate martian habitability.
Definitive Mineralogy from the Mars Science Laboratory Chemin Instrument
2012
2 pages
Report
No indication
English
Aeronomy , Mars surface , Mineralogy , Planetary geology , Remote sensing , Mars craters , Hematite , Landing sites , Habitability , Sulfates , Water