Terrain physical properties derived from orbital data and the first 360 sols of Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover observations in Gale Crater
Creators
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Arvidson, R. E.1
- Bellutta, P.2
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Calef, F.2
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Fraeman, A. A.1
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Garvin, J. B.3
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Gasnault, O.4
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Grant, J. A.5
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Grotzinger, J. P.6
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Hamilton, V. E.7
- Heverly, M.2
- Iagnemma, K. A.8
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Johnson, J. R.9
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Lanza, N. L.10
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Le Mouélic, S.11
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Mangold, N.11
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Ming, D. W.12
- Mehta, M.13
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Morris, R. V.12
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Newsom, H. E.14
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Rennó, N.15
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Rubin, D.16
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Schieber, J.17
- Sletten, R.18
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Stein, N.1
- Thuillier, F.11
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Vasavada, A. R.2
- Vizcaino, J.13
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Wiens, R. C.10
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1.
Washington University in St. Louis
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2.
Jet Propulsion Lab
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3.
Goddard Space Flight Center
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4.
Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology
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5.
National Air and Space Museum
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6.
California Institute of Technology
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7.
Southwest Research Institute
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8.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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9.
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
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10.
Los Alamos National Laboratory
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11.
Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes
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12.
Johnson Space Center
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13.
Marshall Space Flight Center
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14.
University of New Mexico
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15.
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
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16.
University of California, Santa Cruz
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17.
Indiana University Bloomington
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18.
University of Washington
Abstract
Physical properties of terrains encountered by the Curiosity rover during the first 360 sols of operations have been inferred from analysis of the scour zones produced by Sky Crane Landing System engine plumes, wheel touch down dynamics, pits produced by Chemical Camera (ChemCam) laser shots, rover wheel traverses over rocks, the extent of sinkage into soils, and the magnitude and sign of rover‐based slippage during drives. Results have been integrated with morphologic, mineralogic, and thermophysical properties derived from orbital data, and Curiosity‐based measurements, to understand the nature and origin of physical properties of traversed terrains. The hummocky plains (HP) landing site and traverse locations consist of moderately to well‐consolidated bedrock of alluvial origin variably covered by slightly cohesive, hard‐packed basaltic sand and dust, with both embedded and surface‐strewn rock clasts. Rock clasts have been added through local bedrock weathering and impact ejecta emplacement and form a pavement‐like surface in which only small clasts (<5 to 10 cm wide) have been pressed into the soil during wheel passages. The bedded fractured (BF) unit, site of Curiosity's first drilling activity, exposes several alluvial‐lacustrine bedrock units with little to no soil cover and varying degrees of lithification. Small wheel sinkage values (<1 cm) for both HP and BF surfaces demonstrate that compaction resistance countering driven‐wheel thrust has been minimal and that rover slippage while traversing across horizontal surfaces or going uphill, and skid going downhill, have been dominated by terrain tilts and wheel‐surface material shear modulus values.
Additional Information
© 2014 American Geophysical Union. Issue Online: 12 July 2014; Version of Record online: 17 June 2014; Accepted manuscript online: 22 May 2014; Manuscript accepted: 18 May 2014; Manuscript revised: 02 April 2014; Manuscript received: 31 December 2013. We thank NASA for support for our work on MSL and CRISM, and we thank the science and engineering teams associated with the Mars Science Laboratory, HiRISE, CRISM, and THEMIS for planning and acquisition of the data used in this paper. Data are available from the NASA Planetary Data System Geosciences Node (http://pds‐geosciences.wustl.edu/).Attached Files
Published - 2013JE004605.pdf
Files
2013JE004605.pdf
Additional details
Identifiers
- Eprint ID
- 105193
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20200901-090022746
Funding
- NASA
Dates
- Created
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2020-09-08Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2022-11-30Created from EPrint's last_modified field
Caltech Custom Metadata
- Caltech groups
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS)