Evaluating Stereo Digital Terrain Model Quality at Mars Rover Landing Sites with HRSC, CTX, and HiRISE Images

We have used high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) of two rover landing sites based on mosaicked images from the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera as a reference to evaluate DTMs based on High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and Context Camera (CTX) images. The Next-Generation Automatic Terrain Extraction (NGATE) matcher in the SOCET SET and GXP® commercial photogrammetric systems produces DTMs with good (small) horizontal resolution but large vertical error. Somewhat surprisingly, results for NGATE are terrain dependent, with poorer resolution and smaller errors on smoother surfaces. Multiple approaches to smoothing the NGATE DTMs give similar tradeoffs between resolution and error; a 5 × 5 lowpass filter is near optimal in terms of both combined resolution-error performance and local slope estimation. Smoothing with an area-based matcher, the standard processing for U.S. Geological Survey planetary DTMs, yields similar errors to the 5 × 5 filter at slightly worse resolution. DTMs from the HRSC team processing pipeline fall within this same trade space but are less sensitive to terrain roughness. DTMs produced with the Ames Stereo Pipeline also fall in this space at resolutions intermediate between NGATE and the team pipeline. Considered individually, resolution and error each varied by approximately a factor of 2. Matching errors were 0.2–0.5 pixels but most results fell in the 0.2–0.3 pixel range that has been stated as a rule of thumb in multiple prior studies. Horizontal resolutions of 10–20 image pixels were found, consistently greater than the 3–5 pixel spacing generally used for stereo DTM production. Resolution and precision were inversely correlated; their product varied by ≤20% (4–5 pixels squared). Refinement of the stereo DTM by photoclinometry can yield quantitative improvement in resolution (more than a factor of 2), provided that albedo variations over distances smaller than the stereo DTM resolution are not too severe. We offer specific guidance for both producers and users of planetary stereo DTMs, based on our results.

Photogeologic Map of the Perseverance Rover Field Site in Jezero Crater Constructed by the Mars 2020 Science Team

The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing site is located within Jezero crater, a ∼ 50 km diameter impact crater interpreted to be a Noachian-aged lake basin inside the western edge of the Isidis impact structure. Jezero hosts remnants of a fluvial delta, inlet and outlet valleys, and infill deposits containing diverse carbonate, mafic, and hydrated minerals. Prior to the launch of the Mars 2020 mission, members of the Science Team collaborated to produce a photogeologic map of the Perseverance landing site in Jezero crater. Mapping was performed at a 1:5000 digital map scale using a 25 cm/pixel High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) orthoimage mosaic base map and a 1 m/pixel HiRISE stereo digital terrain model. Mapped bedrock and surficial units were distinguished by differences in relative brightness, tone, topography, surface texture, and apparent roughness. Mapped bedrock units are generally consistent with those identified in previously published mapping efforts, but this study's map includes the distribution of surficial deposits and sub-units of the Jezero delta at a higher level of detail than previous studies. This study considers four possible unit correlations to explain the relative age relationships of major units within the map area. Unit correlations include previously published interpretations as well as those that consider more complex interfingering relationships and alternative relative age relationships. The photogeologic map presented here is the foundation for scientific hypothesis development and strategic planning for Perseverance's exploration of Jezero crater.

Photogeologic Map of the Perseverance Rover Field Site in Jezero Crater Constructed by the Mars 2020 Science Team

The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing site is located within Jezero crater, a ∼ 50 km diameter impact crater interpreted to be a Noachian-aged lake basin inside the western edge of the Isidis impact structure. Jezero hosts remnants of a fluvial delta, inlet and outlet valleys, and infill deposits containing diverse carbonate, mafic, and hydrated minerals. Prior to the launch of the Mars 2020 mission, members of the Science Team collaborated to produce a photogeologic map of the Perseverance landing site in Jezero crater. Mapping was performed at a 1:5000 digital map scale using a 25 cm/pixel High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) orthoimage mosaic base map and a 1 m/pixel HiRISE stereo digital terrain model. Mapped bedrock and surficial units were distinguished by differences in relative brightness, tone, topography, surface texture, and apparent roughness. Mapped bedrock units are generally consistent with those identified in previously published mapping efforts, but this study's map includes the distribution of surficial deposits and sub-units of the Jezero delta at a higher level of detail than previous studies. This study considers four possible unit correlations to explain the relative age relationships of major units within the map area. Unit correlations include previously published interpretations as well as those that consider more complex interfingering relationships and alternative relative age relationships. The photogeologic map presented here is the foundation for scientific hypothesis development and strategic planning for Perseverance's exploration of Jezero crater.

Assessment of InSight Landing Site Predictions

Comprehensive analysis of remote sensing data used to select the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) landing site correctly predicted the atmospheric temperature and pressure profile during entry and descent, the safe landing surface, and the geologic setting of the site. The smooth plains upon which the InSight landing site is located were accurately predicted to be generally similar to the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit landing site with relatively low rock abundance, low slopes, and a moderately dusty surface with a 3-10 m impact fragmented regolith over Hesperian to Early Amazonian basaltic lava flows. The deceleration profile and surface pressure encountered by the spacecraft during entry, descent, and landing compared well (within 1σ) of the envelope of modeled temperature profiles and the expected surface pressure. Orbital estimates of thermal inertia are similar to surface radiometer measurements, and materials at the surface are dominated by poorly consolidated sand as expected. Thin coatings of bright atmospheric dust on the surface were as indicated by orbital albedo and dust cover index measurements. Orbital estimates of rock abundance from shadow measurements in high-resolution images and thermal differencing indicated very low rock abundance and surface counts show 1-4% area covered by rocks. Slopes at 100 to 5 m length scale measured from orbital topographic and radar data correctly indicated a surface comparably smooth and flat as the two smoothest landing sites (Opportunity and Phoenix). Thermal inertia and radar data indicated the surface would be load bearing as found.

Factoring Origin of Life Hypotheses into the Search for Life in the Solar System and Beyond

Two widely-cited alternative hypotheses propose geological localities and biochemical mechanisms for life's origins. The first states that chemical energy available in submarine hydrothermal vents supported the formation of organic compounds and initiated primitive metabolic pathways which became incorporated in the earliest cells; the second proposes that protocells self-assembled from exogenous and geothermally-delivered monomers in freshwater hot springs. These alternative hypotheses are relevant to the fossil record of early life on Earth, and can be factored into the search for life elsewhere in the Solar System. This review summarizes the evidence supporting and challenging these hypotheses, and considers their implications for the search for life on various habitable worlds. It will discuss the relative probability that life could have emerged in environments on early Mars, on the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and also the degree to which prebiotic chemistry could have advanced on Titan. These environments will be compared to ancient and modern terrestrial analogs to assess their habitability and biopreservation potential. Origins of life approaches can guide the biosignature detection strategies of the next generation of planetary science missions, which could in turn advance one or both of the leading alternative abiogenesis hypotheses.

Strategic Planning Insights for Future Science-Driven Extravehicular Activity on Mars

Short-term and long-term science plans were developed as part of the strategic planning process used by the Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT) science team to conduct two Mars-simulation missions investigating basalt habitability at terrestrial volcanic analog sites in 2016. A multidisciplinary team of scientists generated and codified a range of scientific hypotheses distilled into a Science Traceability Matrix (STM) that defined the set of objectives pursued in a series of extravehicular activity (EVA) campaigns performed across multiple field deployments. This STM was used to guide the pre-deployment selection of sampling stations within the selected Mars analog sites on the Earth based on precursor site information such as multispectral imagery. It also informed selection of hand-held instruments and observational data to collect during EVA to aid sample selection through latency-impacted interaction with an Earth-based Science Support Team. A significant portion of the pre-deployment strategic planning activities were devoted to station selection, ultimately the locations used for sample collection and EVA planning. During development of the EVAs, the BASALT science team identified lessons learned that could be used to inform future missions and analog activities, including the critical need for high-resolution precursor imagery that would enable the selection of stations that could meet the scientific objectives outlined in the STM.

Midlatitude ice-rich ground on mars as a target in the search for evidence of life and for in situ resource utilization on human missions

Midlatitude ground ice on Mars is of significant scientific interest for understanding the history and evolution of ice stability on Mars and is relevant for human exploration as a possible in situ resource. For both science and exploration, assessing the astrobiological potential of the ice is important in terms of (1) understanding the potential for life on Mars and (2) evaluating the presence of possible biohazards in advance of human exploration. In the present study, we review the evidence for midlatitude ground ice on Mars, discuss the possible explanations for its occurrence, and assess its potential habitability. During the course of study, we systematically analyzed remote-sensing data sets to determine whether a viable landing site exists in the northern midlatitudes to enable a robotic mission that conducts in situ characterization and searches for evidence of life in the ice. We classified each site according to (1) presence of polygons as a proxy for subsurface ice, (2) presence and abundance of rough topographic obstacles (e.g., large cracks, cliffs, uneven topography), (3) rock density, (4) presence and abundance of large boulders, and (5) presence of craters. We found that a suitable landing site exists within Amazonis Planitia near ground ice that was recently excavated by a meteorite impact.

Extreme life on Earth—past, present and possibly beyond

Life may have been present on Earth since about 3.8 billion years ago or earlier. Multidisciplinary research, especially on the paleobiology and evolution of early microorganisms on Earth and the microbiology of extremophiles in the Earth's environments and under space conditions, enables the defining of strategies for the detection of potential extraterrestrial life by determining biosignatures and the environmental envelope of life.

Jarosite and Hematite at Meridiani Planum from Opportunity's Mössbauer Spectrometer

Mossbauer spectra measured by the Opportunity rover revealed four mineralogical components in Meridiani Planum at Eagle crater: jarosite- and hematite-rich outcrop, hematite-rich soil, olivine-bearing basaltic soil, and a pyroxene-bearing basaltic rock (Bounce rock). Spherules, interpreted to be concretions, are hematite-rich and dispersed throughout the outcrop. Hematitic soils both within and outside Eagle crater are dominated by spherules and their fragments. Olivine-bearing basaltic soil is present throughout the region. Bounce rock is probably an impact erratic. Because jarosite is a hydroxide sulfate mineral, its presence at Meridiani Planum is mineralogical evidence for aqueous processes on Mars, probably under acid-sulfate conditions.