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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2024

Sampling the Margin Unit of Jezero Crater, Mars for Future Mars Sample Return

Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is currently exploring Jezero crater, which contains an ancient lake-delta system with a high potential for past habitability. One of Perseverance’s primary science goals is to collect a set of scientifically return-worthy samples for return to Earth (Mars Sample Return; MSR). Between February 2021 and December 2023, Perseverance has sealed 23 tubes containing 20 rock cores, 2 regolith samples and one atmosphere sample. All rock and regolith samples are accompanied by a set of observations (Sample Threshold Observation Protocol, the STOP List) performed on abrasion patches or regolith near each sample collection site. These observations are documented in the Initial Reports and the Sample Dossier (https://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/mars2020/returned_sample_science.htm). Here we provide an overview of the samples collected during the Margin campaign. The Margin unit is situated interior and adjacent to the western crater rim and exhibits a strong carbonate signal from orbital reflectance spectroscopy. Stratigraphically the unit lies beneath the previously explored curvilinear and blocky units of the fan top and is therefore older than those units. Based on its position near the crater rim and the strong carbonate detections it has been proposed to be a shoreline deposit with possible lacustrine carbonates. Alternative hypotheses include pyroclastic, fluviolacustrine and aeolian deposits. Based on rover observations a lacustrine shoreline deposit seems most likely. The planning of the Margin campaign took place during the summer of 2023, and 3-5 samples were baselined to be collected. Exploration of the Margin unit began in September 2023 and so far, two samples have been collected: the Pelican Point core at the Hans Amundsen Memorial Workspace in the Mandu Wall region , and the Lefroy Bay core at Lake Newell in the Turquoise Bay region (Fig. 1). The associated abrasion patches are Amherst Point (Pelican Point) and Bills Bay (Lefroy Bay) . Mandu Wall is interpreted to be stratigraphically lower than Turquoise Bay based on topography.

Mars sample return↗
NASA NTRS2003

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO): The Next Step in Mars Exploration

This slide presentation reviews the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and the science strategy that motivates the exploration of Mars. The MRO is one of several missions that are planned to enhance our understanding of the planet. Included in this presentation is a review of the schedule for the MRO, the science objectives of the mission, the payloads that ae planned for MRO, and the hoped for science that will be attained from them. A review of the mission, from launch to the primary science relay is reviewed and an overview of the orbiter is shown. The presentation details the payloads, and the expected data from the instruments.

water↗
NASA NTRS2014

Dust Aerosol, Clouds, and the Atmospheric Optical Depth Record over 5 Mars Years of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission

Dust aerosol plays a fundamental role in the behavior and evolution of the Martian atmosphere. The first five Mars years of Mars Exploration Rover data provide an unprecedented record of the dust load at two sites. This record is useful for characterization of the atmosphere at the sites and as ground truth for orbital observations. Atmospheric extinction optical depths have been derived from solar images after calibration and correction for time-varying dust that has accumulated on the camera windows. The record includes local, regional, and globally extensive dust storms. Comparison with contemporaneous thermal infrared data suggests significant variation in the size of the dust aerosols, with a 1 micrometer effective radius during northern summer and a 2 micrometer effective radius at the onset of a dust lifting event. The solar longitude (L (sub s)) 20-136 degrees period is also characterized by the presence of cirriform clouds at the Opportunity site, especially near LS = 50 and 115 degrees. In addition to water ice clouds, a water ice haze may also be present, and carbon dioxide clouds may be present early in the season. Variations in dust opacity are important to the energy balance of each site, and work with seasonal variations in insolation to control dust devil frequency at the Spirit site.

Atmospheric depth↗
NASA NTRS2017

Boots on Mars: Earth Independent Human Exploration of Mars

This package is for the conduct of a workshop during the International Space University Space Studies Program in the summer of 2017 being held in Cork, Ireland. It gives publicly available information on NASA and international plans to move beyond low Earth orbit to Mars and discusses challenges and capabilities. This information will provide the participants a basic level of insight to develop a response on their perceived obstacles to a future vision of humans on Mars.

Mars↗
NASA NTRS2014

Mars' Surface Radiation Environment Measured with the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity Rover

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on the Mars Science Laboratorys Curiosity rover beganmaking detailed measurements of the cosmic ray and energetic particle radiation environmenton the surface of Mars on 7 August 2012. We report and discuss measurements of the absorbeddose and dose equivalent from galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles on the martiansurface for 300 days of observations during the current solar maximum. These measurementsprovide insight into the radiation hazards associated with a human mission to the surface of Marsand provide an anchor point with which to model the subsurface radiation environment, withimplications for microbial survival times of any possible extant or past life, as well as for thepreservation of potential organic biosignatures of the ancient martian environment.

radiation environment↗
NASA NTRS1997

(abstract) Mars Balloon Trajectory Model for Mars Geoscience Aerobot Development

The Mars Geoscience Aerobot (MGA) is a proposed Mars aerobot (robotic aerovehicle) mission featuring advanced capabilities for surface imagimg and atmospheric science. Development of the MGA mission has been catalyzed by science objectives that include surface geology and atmospheric measurements. The MGA consists of a superpressure balloon that is reflective on top and white on the bottom to avoid condensation CO&sub2; frost during the night. The MGA also features a

balloons↗
NASA NTRS1998

Mars Global Surveyor: The First Year at Mars

Mars Global Surveyor arrived at Mars on September 11, 1997, to begin a short period of orbit transformation and then to embark upon two years of intensive mapping of the Martian surface and atmospheric observations.

Planetary↗
NASA NTRS2025

Diverse and Highly Differentiated Lava Suite in Jezero Crater, Mars: Constraints on Intracrustal Magmatism Revealed By Mars 2020 PIXL

The Jezero crater floor features a suite of related, iron-rich lavas that were examined and sampled by the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance , and whose textures, minerals, and compositions were characterized by the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL). This suite, known as the Máaz formation (fm), includes dark-toned basaltic/trachy-basaltic rocks with intergrown pyroxene, plagioclase feldspar, and altered olivine and overlying trachy-andesitic lava with reversely zoned plagioclase phenocrysts in a K-rich groundmass. Feldspar thermal disequilibrium textures indicate that they were carried from their crustal staging area. Bulk and mafic minerals have very high FeO and low MgO to FeO total ratios, which are partially reproduced by thermodynamic models involving high-degree fractional crystallization of a gabbroic assemblage and possibly also assimilation of iron-rich basement. Together, these in situ constraints on petrogenesis provide a uniquely detailed record of intracrustal processes beneath Jezero crater during a time period not represented by Mars samples to date.

Jezero Crater floor↗
NASA NTRS2024

Humans to Mars, But How Many? A Historical Review of Crew Size Determinations for Mars Missions

Three-quarters of a century have passed since the first engineering study of a human mission to Mars in 1948. During that time, dozens of study teams at NASA, its contractors, and other organizations in the U.S. and abroad have confronted what NASA mission architect John Connolly and his colleagues have called “the ultimate systems challenge.” This historical review of those studies focuses on the question of crew size and its relationship to crew workload.

Human Mars Missions↗
NASA NTRS1971

High dispersion spectroscopic studies of Mars. V - A search for oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars.

In order to set a new upper limit on the amount of diatomic oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars, we have reduced a number of high-dispersion spectra of the 7620 A band of oxygen obtained during the 1969 apparition of Mars. Our new upper limit is 15 atm cm(stp) for the Martian abundance in a single vertical path. This result confirms and lowers the 1963 upper limit of 70 cm atm(stp) by Kaplan, Muench, and Spinrad (1964). The features reported by Hunten and Belton (1966) do not appear on our spectra. Further, we have measured the pressure shift of the A band in the laboratory, and found that the shift required by their tentative identification of diatomic oxygen in the Martian atmosphere does not exist. We conclude that their tentative identification was spurious, and their upper limit dubious.

Margolis, J. S.↗