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Fluvial Regimes, Morphometry, and Age of Jezero Crater Paleolake Inlet Valleys and Their Exobiological Significance for the 2020 Rover Mission Landing Site
DOI: 10.1089/ast.2019.2132 Bibcode: 2020AsBio..20..994M

Mangold, Nicolas; Quantin-Nataf, Cathy; Massé, Marion +5 more

Jezero crater has been selected as the landing site for the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, because it contains a paleolake with two fan-deltas, inlet and outlet valleys. Using the data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), we conducted a quantitative geomorphological study of the …

2020 Astrobiology
MEx 56
Mawrth Vallis, Mars: A Fascinating Place for Future In Situ Exploration
DOI: 10.1089/ast.2019.2074 Bibcode: 2020AsBio..20..199P

Horgan, Briony; Poulet, François; Carter, John +4 more

After the successful landing of the Mars Science Laboratory rover, both NASA and ESA initiated a selection process for potential landing sites for the Mars2020 and ExoMars missions, respectively. Two ellipses located in the Mawrth Vallis region were proposed and evaluated during a series of meetings (three for Mars2020 mission and five for ExoMars…

2020 Astrobiology
MEx 20
Estimated Minimum Life Span of the Jezero Fluvial Delta (Mars)
DOI: 10.1089/ast.2020.2228 Bibcode: 2020AsBio..20..977S

Mangold, Nicolas; Salese, Francesco; Kleinhans, Maarten G. +4 more

The paleo-lake floor at the edge of the Jezero delta has been selected as the NASA 2020 rover landing site. In this article, we demonstrate the sequences of lake filling and delta formation and constrain the minimum life span of the Jezero paleo-lake from sedimentological and hydrological analyses. Two main phases of delta evolution can be recogni…

2020 Astrobiology
MEx 19
In Search for a Planet Better than Earth: Top Contenders for a Superhabitable World
DOI: 10.1089/ast.2019.2161 Bibcode: 2020AsBio..20.1394S

Heller, René; Guinan, Edward; Schulze-Makuch, Dirk

The fact that Earth is teeming with life makes it appear odd to ask whether there could be other planets in our galaxy that may be even more suitable for life. Neglecting this possible class of "superhabitable" planets, however, could be considered anthropocentric and geocentric biases. Most important from the perspective of an observer searching …

2020 Astrobiology
Gaia 16