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Martian variable features: New insight from the Mars Express Orbiter and the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
Greeley, Ronald; Whelley, Patrick L.; Neakrase, Lynn D. V. +12 more
Linear, low-albedo patterns (termed dark wind streaks) formed on the floor of Gusev crater between September 2003 and February 2004, as seen on High Resolution Stereo Camera images taken on board the Mars Express Orbiter. Pancam images from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit show that the rover crossed a dark streak during its traverse to Bonnevill…
Styles and timing of volatile-driven activity in the eastern Hellas region of Mars
Crown, David A.; Bleamaster, Leslie F.; Mest, Scott C.
Recent analyses of Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey data sets provide new insights into the geologic evolution of the eastern Hellas region of Mars, in particular, the role of volatiles. Here, we present results of our recent work and integrate these with previous studies by various investigators to provide a synthesis of the history of volat…
Erosion by flowing Martian lava: New insights for Hecates Tholus from Mars Express and MER data
Greeley, Ronald; Williams, David A.; Neukum, Gerhard +2 more
We have used new compositional information on Martian basaltic rocks from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and data from new stereo imaging by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on the Mars Express orbiter to constrain an existing analytical-numerical computer model to assess the potential of Martian lavas to form lava channels by erosion o…
Major episodes of the hydrologic history in the region of Hesperia Planum, Mars
Neukum, G.; Marinangeli, L.; Ivanov, M. A. +5 more
The High Resolution Stereo Color camera (HRSC) data over Hesperia Planum and its surroundings reveal important details of geologic episodes and water-related processes in this region. (1) The Noachian fluvial events of Hesperia Planum depression included accumulation of water and formation of a water/ice reservoir there. Later, the reservoir was d…
Complex geology of two large impact craters in Tyrrhena Terra, Mars: Detailed analysis using MEX HRSC camera data
Neukum, G.; Korteniemi, J.; Kostama, V. -P. +5 more
Tyrrhena Terra, located just north of the roughly 200 km Hellas impact basin, is a typical region of the ancient cratered southern highlands on Mars. Its base material is a mixture of Hellas ejecta, prebasin remnants, and highland terrain, all later saturated with smaller (<200 km) impact craters. Fluvial and lacustrine deposits, erosion, tecto…
Processes of equatorial thermal structure at Jupiter: An analysis of the Galileo temperature profile with a three-dimensional model
Waite, J. H.; Gladstone, G. R.; Bougher, S. W. +1 more
The Jupiter Thermospheric General Circulation Model (JTGCM) calculates the global dynamical structure of Jupiter's thermosphere self-consistently with its global thermal structure and composition. The main heat source that drives the thermospheric flow is high-latitude Joule heating. A secondary source of heating is the auroral process of particle…
A cometary neutral gas simulator for gas dynamic sensor and mass spectrometer calibration
Wurz, P.; Altwegg, K.; Balsiger, H. +6 more
The goal of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission is a rendezvous with the Edgewood-Kuiper Belt comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. After the initial encounter the spacecraft will accompany the comet for one to two years toward the Sun and throughout the perihelion passage. For the calibration of the onboard comet mass spectrometers a calibrati…
Prelaunch performance evaluation of the cometary experiment MUPUS-TP
Kührt, E.; Knollenberg, J.; Spohn, T. +13 more
This paper discusses test results obtained in both laboratory and terrestrial environment conditions for the ``Multipurpose Sensors for Surface and Sub-Surface Science'' Thermal Probe (MUPUS-TP), which has been developed for the European Space Agency Rosetta cometary rendezvous mission. The probe is intended to provide in situ long-term observatio…
Selection of the landing site in Isidis Planitia of Mars probe Beagle 2
Head, J. W.; Rothery, D. A.; Duxbury, T. +14 more
This paper describes selection and characterization of the landing site for the Mars 2004 Beagle 2 mission. The site is within Isidis Planitia between 10°-12°N, 266°-274°W, centered at 11.6°N, 269.5°W. This is at low elevation (-3600 to -3900 m MOLA), is flat (MOLA RMS slope = 0.57°), radar data suggest a smoother surface at decimeter to meter sca…