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Exploring Gusev Crater with Spirit: Review of science objectives and testable hypotheses
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California, USA
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
Department of Geological Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Department of Geological Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Vernadsky Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
Institute of Meteoritics and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Institute of Meteoritics and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Institute of Meteoritics and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachussetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Department of Science and Mathematics Education, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USA
Schreder Planetarium, Redding, California, USA
Department of Geology, University of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Mars Society en France, Suresnes, France
Gusev Crater was selected as the landing site for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Spirit mission. Located at the outlet of Ma'adim Vallis and 250 km south of the volcano Apollinaris Patera, Gusev is an outstanding site to achieve the goals of the MER mission. The crater could have collected sediments from a variety of sources during its 3.9 Ga history, including fluvial, lacustrine, volcanic, glacial, impact, regional and local aeolian, and global air falls. It is a unique site to investigate the past history of water on Mars, climate and geological changes, and the potential habitability of the planet, which are central science objectives of the MER mission. Because of its complex history and potential diversity, Gusev will allow the testing of a large spectrum of hypotheses with the complete suite of MER instruments. Evidence consistent with long-lived lake episodes exist in the landing ellipse area. They might offer a unique opportunity to study, for the first time, Martian aqueous sediments and minerals formed in situ in their geological context. We review the geological history and diversity of the landing site, the science hypotheses that can be tested during the MER mission, and the relevance of Gusev to the MER mission objectives and payload.
Received 5 December 2002; accepted 3 September 2003; published 30 December 2003.
Citation: (2003), Exploring Gusev Crater with Spirit: Review of science objectives and testable hypotheses, J. Geophys. Res., 108(E12), 8076, doi:10.1029/2002JE002026.
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