Scientists Turn Back Time to Track Methane Emissions on Mars

Period spikes of methane on Mars could originate inside Gale crater, where NASA’s Curiosity rover is currently exploring.s

A Brief Review of Some Interesting Mars Rover Image Enhancement Projects

The Curiosity rover has landed on Mars since 2012. One of the instruments onboard the rover is a pair of multispectral cameras known as Mastcams, which act as eyes of the rover. In this paper, we summarize our recent studies on some interesting image processing projects for Mastcams. In particular, we will address perceptually lossless compression of Mastcam images, debayering and resolution enhancement of Mastcam images, high resolution stereo and disparity map generation using fused Mastcam images, and improved performance of anomaly detection and pixel clustering using combined left and right Mastcam images. The main goal of this review paper is to raise public awareness about these interesting Mastcam projects and also stimulate interests in the research community to further develop new algorithms for those applications.

A Review of the Phyllosilicates in Gale Crater as Detected by the CheMin Instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity Rover

Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, landed on Mars in August 2012 to investigate the ~3.5-billion-year-old (Ga) fluvio-lacustrine sedimentary deposits of Aeolis Mons (informally known as Mount Sharp) and the surrounding plains (Aeolis Palus) in Gale crater. After nearly nine years, Curiosity has traversed over 25 km, and the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) X-ray diffraction instrument on-board Curiosity has analyzed 30 drilled rock and three scooped soil samples to date. The principal strategic goal of the mission is to assess the habitability of Mars in its ancient past. Phyllosilicates are common in ancient Martian terrains dating to ~3.5–4 Ga and were detected from orbit in some of the lower strata of Mount Sharp. Phyllosilicates on Earth are important for harboring and preserving organics. On Mars, phyllosilicates are significant for exploration as they are hypothesized to be a marker for potential habitable environments. CheMin data demonstrate that ancient fluvio-lacustrine rocks in Gale crater contain up to ~35 wt. % phyllosilicates. Phyllosilicates are key indicators of past fluid–rock interactions, and variation in the structure and composition of phyllosilicates in Gale crater suggest changes in past aqueous environments that may have been habitable to microbial life with a variety of possible energy sources.

Intense subaerial weathering of eolian sediments in Gale crater, Mars

After over 8 years of successful surface operations on Mars, the Curiosity rover has revealed much about the environment in Gale crater. Despite early observations of a lacustrine environment, few of the subsequent deposits exhibit demonstrable lacustrine character. We suggest instead that most of the stratigraphic section explored to date can be best explained as eolian and/or volcaniclastic sediments subaerially chemically weathered by acidic precipitation in a reduced atmosphere. Most of the deposits in Gale crater seemingly did not form in an ancient lake, but the results nonetheless shed considerable light on ancient climate, environmental change, and the astrobiology of Mars. Discoveries by Curiosity provide a critical piece to Mars’ global alteration puzzle.

Alternating wet and dry depositional environments recorded in the stratigraphy of Mount Sharp at Gale crater, Mars

The Curiosity rover is exploring Hesperian-aged stratigraphy in Gale crater, Mars, where a transition from clay-bearing units to a layered sulfate-bearing unit has been interpreted to represent a major environmental transition of unknown character. We present the first description of key facies in the sulfate-bearing unit, recently observed in the distance by the rover, and propose a model for changes in depositional environments. Our results indicate a transition from lacustrine mudstones into thick aeolian deposits, topped by a major deflation surface, above which strata show architectures likely diagnostic of a subaqueous environment. This model offers a reference example of a depositional sequence for layered sulfate-bearing strata, which have been identified from orbit in other locations globally. It differs from the idea of a monotonic Hesperian climate change into long-term aridity on Mars and instead implies a period characterized by multiple transitions between sustained drier and wetter climates.