Overview of the Mars Pathfinder Mission and assessment of landing site predictions
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Abstract
Chemical analyses returned by Mars Pathfinder indicate that some rocks may be high in silica, implying differentiated parent materials. Rounded pebbles and cobbles and a possible conglomerate suggest fluvial processes that imply liquid water in equilibrium with the atmosphere and thus a warmer and wetter past. The moment of inertia indicates a central metallic core of 1300 to 2000 kilometers in radius. Composite airborne dust particles appear magnetized by freeze-dried maghemite stain or cement that may have been leached from crustal materials by an active hydrologic cycle. Remote-sensing data at a scale of generally greater than ∼1 kilometer and an Earth analog correctly predicted a rocky plain safe for landing and roving with a variety of rocks deposited by catastrophic floods that are relatively dust-free.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Overview of the Mars Pathfinder Mission and assessment of landing site predictions |
| Series title | Science |
| DOI | 10.1126/science.278.5344.1743 |
| Volume | 278 |
| Issue | 5344 |
| Year Published | 1997 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | AAAS |
| Contributing office(s) | Astrogeology Science Center |
| Description | 6 p. |
| First page | 1743 |
| Last page | 1748 |
| Other Geospatial | Mars |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |