Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site Mappingor

Why you can’t land (or rove) on Mars without a Map

Matt Golombek & Fred Calef IIIJPL

All images this slide: NASA/JPL-Caltech

LPSC March 20, 2013Planetary Mapping and

Cartography, What, When, How, Why?

VL1 MPF

Opportunity

VL2

Spirit

Landing Sites on MarsPhoenix

Curiosity

Elevation Matters – Amount of Atmosphere to Slow DownAll Sites at Low Elevation

Latitude Matters – Solar Power; Thermal/powerTarget Materials (e.g., ice)

MOLA is Base Map Cartographic & Inertial Frames

MSL Science Criteria MSL Safety Criteria

MSL Science and Safety Constraints:

<25°

<100 m

0.5% CFA <7%

3/20/13 3Golombek, Landing Site Selection

Remove these constraints

1 m to 1000 m

DEMs

• Complete CTX DEM Coverage for Radar Interactions

• 5-6 HiRISE DEMs to Cover Ellipse– Kirk et al. [2011]

• Complete Slope Map (1-5 m)

• HiRISE – 1 m/elevation postings

• CTX – ~20 m/elevation postings

• HRSC – 50 m/elevation postings– Gwinner et al. [2010]

Hierarchical co-registration Kim & Muller [2009] PSS

CTX DEM

• Example CTX DEM 25 m/elevation posting for Radar Interaction

• Complete Coverage of Ellipse

Gale 1 m Slope Map

TouchdownStability

Trafficability

9/29/10 Golombek et al. Rocks 7

VL2

South

North

PSP_1501_2280

400x400 pixels124x124 meters1.5 hectares

VL2HiRISE Changed

Everything

Can See Rocks Directly in HiRISE

Correlate Large Rocks in HiRISE with those Seen from Lander at

All Landing Sites

Measure same size-frequency distribution at surface; follow models from

surface

Golombek et al. [2008]

Golombek, MSL Data Products 8

Gale Rock Map Size-Frequency Distribution

Rocks in 450 m bins

Fit to Model Size-Frequency

Distribution forCumulative

Fractional Area from 1 - 40%

Calculate Probability of Success for All

Rock Sizes

Rocks and Slopes-Touchdown Simulations

Golombek et al. [2012]

Thermal Inertia

Gale

Thermal Inertia

Material Properties

Fergason et al. [2012]

Surface Material Properties 10

Gale CraterBlue: Unconsolidated eolilan bedformsGreen: Eolian thin cover over indurated alluviumYellow: Indurated alluviumRed: Indurated or cemented flat-lying unit

11/16/10

Surface Materials

Fergason et al. [2012]

Blue=CraterPink=Mesa*=Probably Escapable**=Inescapable

Gale Potential InescapableHazards

Golombek et al. [2012]

Gale ID. 17** Crater, 400 m diameter 15 to 30° Slopes Loose material on interior slopes, bedforms on floor 232084 m2

137.548, -4.463

Inescapable Coverage shows >15 ° slopes and loose

material around entire crater interior No obvious egress route Bedforms are likely traversable

Only 2 Inescapable

CratersCover 0.13%

of EllipseGolombek et al. [2012]

13

Cratered Plains – No obvious Mobility Concerns

Dark DunesAppear FreshMany Exceed 30°MobilityImpediment

Sample Strata Here

Drive up CanyonHere

Can Access Mineral Strata in CRISMCan drive up mound

Gale Crater“Go To” Traversabilty

5/12/11

Gale Traverse Routes

Paolo BelluttaIn Golombek et al. [2012]

FromTopographyRocks& Material Properties

15

Overview of Dunes

5/12/11 Golombek et al. [2012]

Golombek et al., MSL Data Products 16

SW Routes Through Dunes

5/12/11 Golombek et al. [2012]

Golombek et al., MSL Data Products 17

Traverse Routes in Lower Mound

First fence

Secondfence

Canyon 1

Not Fan

First fence

Secondfence

Canyon 1

Not Fan

Canyon 2

Clay layer

Canyon 2

Clay layer

5/12/11

This completes the M. Golombek portion of the presentation. The presentation by F. Calef will be added to this and posted at a later date.

(2013 April 2)