Golombek MP, Cook RA, Economou T, Folkner WM, Haldemann AF, Kallemeyn PH, Knudsen JM, Manning RM, Moore HJ, Parker TJ, Rieder R, Schofield JT, Smith PH, Vaughan RM. Overview of the Mars Pathfinder mission and assessment of landing site predictions.
Science 1997;
278:1743-8. [PMID:
9388167 DOI:
10.1126/science.278.5344.1743]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 237] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Chemical analyses returned by Mars Pathfinder indicate that some rocks may be high in silica, implying differentiated parent materials. Rounded pebbles and cobbles and a possible conglomerate suggest fluvial processes that imply liquid water in equilibrium with the atmosphere and thus a warmer and wetter past. The moment of inertia indicates a central metallic core of 1300 to 2000 kilometers in radius. Composite airborne dust particles appear magnetized by freeze-dried maghemite stain or cement that may have been leached from crustal materials by an active hydrologic cycle. Remote-sensing data at a scale of generally greater than approximately 1 kilometer and an Earth analog correctly predicted a rocky plain safe for landing and roving with a variety of rocks deposited by catastrophic floods that are relatively dust-free.
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