Assessment of Mars Exploration Rover landing site predictions

M. P. Golombek (), R. E. Arvidson, J. F. Bell, P. R. Christensen, J. A. Crisp, L. S. Crumpler, B. L. Ehlmann, R. L. Fergason, J. A. Grant, R. Greeley, A. F. C. Haldemann, D. M. Kass, T. J. Parker, J. T. Schofield, S. W. Squyres and R. W. Zurek
Additional contact information
M. P. Golombek: California Institute of Technology
R. E. Arvidson: Washington University
J. F. Bell: Cornell University
P. R. Christensen: Arizona State University
J. A. Crisp: California Institute of Technology
L. S. Crumpler: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
B. L. Ehlmann: Oxford University
R. L. Fergason: Arizona State University
J. A. Grant: Smithsonian Institution
R. Greeley: Arizona State University
A. F. C. Haldemann: California Institute of Technology
D. M. Kass: California Institute of Technology
T. J. Parker: California Institute of Technology
J. T. Schofield: California Institute of Technology
S. W. Squyres: Cornell University
R. W. Zurek: California Institute of Technology

Nature, 2005, vol. 436, issue 7047, 44-48

Abstract: Abstract Comprehensive analyses of remote sensing data during the three-year effort to select the Mars Exploration Rover landing sites at Gusev crater and at Meridiani Planum correctly predicted the atmospheric density profile during entry and descent and the safe and trafficable surfaces explored by the two rovers. The Gusev crater site was correctly predicted to be a low-relief surface that was less rocky than the Viking landing sites but comparably dusty. A dark, low-albedo, flat plain composed of basaltic sand and haematite with very few rocks was expected and found at Meridiani Planum. These results argue that future efforts to select safe landing sites based on existing and acquired remote sensing data will be successful. In contrast, geological interpretations of the sites based on remote sensing data were less certain and less successful, which emphasizes the inherent ambiguities in understanding surface geology from remotely sensed data and the uncertainty in predicting exactly what materials will be available for study at a landing site.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03600

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