Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site Mapping or Why you cant land (or rove) on Mars without a Map Matt Golombek & Fred Calef III JPL All images this slide: NASA/JPL-Caltech LPSC March 20, 2013 Planetary Mapping and Cartography, What, When, How, Why?

VL1 MPF Opportunity VL2 Spirit Landing Sites on Mars Phoenix Curiosity Elevation Matters – Amount of Atmosphere to Slow Down All Sites at Low Elevation Latitude Matters – Solar Power; Thermal/power Target 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% 3/20/133Golombek, 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 Touchdown Stability Trafficability

9/29/10Golombek et al. Rocks7 VL2 South North PSP_1501_ x400 pixels 124x124 meters 1.5 hectares VL2 HiRISE 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]

Gale Rock Map 8Golombek, MSL Data Products Size-Frequency Distribution Rocks in 450 m bins Fit to Model Size- Frequency Distribution for Cumulative Fractional Area from % 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]

Gale Crater Blue: Unconsolidated eolilan bedforms Green: Eolian thin cover over indurated alluvium Yellow: Indurated alluvium Red: Indurated or cemented flat-lying unit 11/16/1010Surface Material Properties Surface Materials Fergason et al. [2012]

Blue=Crater Pink=Mesa *=Probably Escapable **=Inescapable Gale Potential Inescapable Hazards Golombek et al. [2012]

Gale ID. 17** Crater, 400 m diameter 15 to 30° Slopes Loose material on interior slopes, bedforms on floor m , Inescapable Coverage shows >15 ° slopes and loose material around entire crater interior No obvious egress route Bedforms are likely traversable Only 2 Inescapable Craters Cover 0.13% of Ellipse Golombek et al. [2012]

13 Cratered Plains – No obvious Mobility Concerns Dark Dunes Appear Fresh Many Exceed 30° Mobility Impediment Sample Strata Here Drive up Canyon Here Can Access Mineral Strata in CRISM Can drive up mound Gale Crater Go To Traversabilty 5/12/11

Paolo Bellutta In Golombek et al. [2012] From Topography Rocks & Material Properties

Overview of Dunes 5/12/1115 Golombek et al. [2012]

SW Routes Through Dunes 5/12/1116Golombek et al., MSL Data Products Golombek et al. [2012]

Traverse Routes in Lower Mound First fence Second fence Canyon 1 Not Fan First fence Second fence Canyon 1 Not Fan Canyon 2 Clay layer Canyon 2 Clay layer 5/12/1117Golombek et al., MSL Data Products

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)