Gusev is a crater on the planet Mars and is located at 14.5°S 175.4°E and is in the Aeolis quadrangle. The crater is about 166 kilometers in diameter and formed approximately three to four billion years ago. It was named after Russian astronomer Matvey Gusev (1826–1866) in 1976.
Sinus Meridiani is an albedo feature on Mars stretching east-west just south of the planet's equator. It was named by the French astronomer Camille Flammarion in the late 1870s.
NASA's 2003 Mars Exploration Rover Mission has amassed an enormous amount of scientific information related to the Martian geology and atmosphere, as well as providing some astronomical observations from Mars. This article covers information gathered by the Opportunity rover during the initial phase of its mission. Information on science gathered by Spirit can be found mostly in the Spirit rover article.
The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) was a visible-infrared spectrometer aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter searching for mineralogic indications of past and present water on Mars. The CRISM instrument team comprised scientists from over ten universities and was led by principal investigator Scott Murchie. CRISM was designed, built, and tested by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at 5.4°S 137.8°E in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is 154 km (96 mi) in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur astronomer from Sydney, Australia, who observed Mars in the late 19th century. Mount Sharp is a mountain in the center of Gale and rises 5.5 km (18,000 ft) high. Aeolis Palus is the plain between the northern wall of Gale and the northern foothills of Aeolis Mons. Peace Vallis, a nearby outflow channel, 'flows' down from the hills to the Aeolis Palus below and seems to have been carved by flowing water. Several lines of evidence suggest that a lake existed inside Gale shortly after the formation of the crater.
Miyamoto is a crater within the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) region of the planet Mars, west of the Plains of Meridiani. It is 150 kilometers (93 mi) wide. Its northeastern half is filled with rocks formed in the presence of water and include minerals of iron and sulfur, which likely settled on lake bottoms or in groundwater systems. In the southwestern half of the crater floor, erosion has stripped these materials away, revealing clays and other materials like those found in the most ancient Martian rocks. More than 3.5 billion years old, they date to the Noachian era at which time, liquid water was likely present at the surface and could have created an environment favorable to life.
The Aeolis quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Aeolis quadrangle is also referred to as MC-23 . The Aeolis quadrangle covers 180° to 225° W and 0° to 30° south on Mars, and contains parts of the regions Elysium Planitia and Terra Cimmeria. A small part of the Medusae Fossae Formation lies in this quadrangle.
The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle is also referred to as MC-19. The Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle covers the area from 0° to 45° west longitude and 0° to 30° south latitude on Mars. Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle contains Margaritifer Terra and parts of Xanthe Terra, Noachis Terra, Arabia Terra, and Meridiani Planum.
Almost all water on Mars today exists as ice, though it also exists in small quantities as vapor in the atmosphere. What was thought to be low-volume liquid brines in shallow Martian soil, also called recurrent slope lineae, may be grains of flowing sand and dust slipping downhill to make dark streaks. While most water ice is buried, it is exposed at the surface across several locations on Mars. In the mid-latitudes, it is exposed by impact craters, steep scarps and gullies. Additionally, water ice is also visible at the surface at the north polar ice cap. Abundant water ice is also present beneath the permanent carbon dioxide ice cap at the Martian south pole. More than 5 million km3 of ice have been detected at or near the surface of Mars, enough to cover the whole planet to a depth of 35 meters (115 ft). Even more ice might be locked away in the deep subsurface. Some liquid water may occur transiently on the Martian surface today, but limited to traces of dissolved moisture from the atmosphere and thin films, which are challenging environments for known life. No evidence of present-day liquid water has been discovered on the planet's surface because under typical Martian conditions, warming water ice on the Martian surface would sublime at rates of up to 4 meters per year. Before about 3.8 billion years ago, Mars may have had a denser atmosphere and higher surface temperatures, potentially allowing greater amounts of liquid water on the surface, possibly including a large ocean that may have covered one-third of the planet. Water has also apparently flowed across the surface for short periods at various intervals more recently in Mars' history. Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater, explored by the Curiosity rover, is the geological remains of an ancient freshwater lake that could have been a hospitable environment for microbial life. The present-day inventory of water on Mars can be estimated from spacecraft images, remote sensing techniques, and surface investigations from landers and rovers. Geologic evidence of past water includes enormous outflow channels carved by floods, ancient river valley networks, deltas, and lakebeds; and the detection of rocks and minerals on the surface that could only have formed in liquid water. Numerous geomorphic features suggest the presence of ground ice (permafrost) and the movement of ice in glaciers, both in the recent past and present. Gullies and slope lineae along cliffs and crater walls suggest that flowing water continues to shape the surface of Mars, although to a far lesser degree than in the ancient past.
Columbus is a crater in the Terra Sirenum of Mars. It is 119 km in diameter and was named after Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer (1451–1506). The discovery of sulfates and clay minerals in sediments within Columbus crater are strong evidence that a lake once existed in the crater. Research with an orbiting near-infrared spectrometer, which reveals the types of minerals present based on the wavelengths of light they absorb, found evidence of layers of both clay and sulfates in Columbus crater. This is exactly what would appear if a large lake had slowly evaporated. Moreover, because some layers contained gypsum, a sulfate which forms in relatively fresh water, life could have formed in the crater.
Rain and snow was a regular occurrence on Mars in the past; especially in the Noachian and early Hesperian epochs. Water was theorized to seep into the ground until it reached a formation that would not allow it to penetrate further. Water then accumulated forming a saturated layer. Deep aquifers may still exist.
The composition of Mars covers the branch of the geology of Mars that describes the make-up of the planet Mars.
The Mars Science Laboratory and its rover, Curiosity, were launched from Earth on 26 November 2011. As of June 4, 2024, Curiosity has been on the planet Mars for 4204 sols since landing on 6 August 2012. (See Current status.)
Bradbury Landing is the August 6, 2012, landing site within Gale crater on planet Mars of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover. On August 22, 2012, on what would have been his 92nd birthday, NASA named the site for author Ray Bradbury, who had died on June 5, 2012. The coordinates of the landing site on Mars are: 4.5895°S 137.4417°E.
Chemistry and Camera complex (ChemCam) is a suite of remote sensing instruments on Mars for the Curiosity rover. As the name implies, ChemCam is actually two different instruments combined as one: a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and a Remote Micro Imager (RMI) telescope. The purpose of the LIBS instrument is to provide elemental compositions of rock and soil, while the RMI will give ChemCam scientists high-resolution images of the sampling areas of the rocks and soil that LIBS targets. The LIBS instrument can target a rock or soil sample from up to 7 m (23 ft) away, vaporizing a small amount of it with about 30 5-nanosecond pulses from a 1067 nm infrared laser and then observing the spectrum of the light emitted by the vaporized rock.
Yellowknife Bay is a geologic formation in Gale Crater on the planet Mars. NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, named Curiosity, arrived at the low lying depression on December 17, 2012, 125 sols, or Martian days, into its 668-sol planned mission on the planet. Primary mission goals of the Mars Science Laboratory were to assess the potential habitability of the planet and whether or not the Martian environment is, or has ever been, capable of supporting life.
In summer 1965, the first close-up images from Mars showed a cratered desert with no signs of water. However, over the decades, as more parts of the planet were imaged with better cameras on more sophisticated satellites, Mars showed evidence of past river valleys, lakes and present ice in glaciers and in the ground. It was discovered that the climate of Mars displays huge changes over geologic time because its axis is not stabilized by a large moon, as Earth's is. Also, some researchers maintain that surface liquid water could have existed for periods of time due to geothermal effects, chemical composition or asteroid impacts. This article describes some of the places that could have held large lakes.
Equatorial layered deposits (ELD’s) have been called interior layered deposits (ILDs) in Valles Marineris. They are often found with the most abundant outcrops of hydrated sulfates on Mars, and thus are likely to preserve a record of liquid water in Martian history since hydrated sulfates are formed in the presence of water. Layering is visible on meter scale, and when the deposits are partly eroded, intricate patterns become visible. The layers in the mound in Gale Crater have been extensively studied from orbit by instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The Curiosity Rover landed in the crater, and it has brought some ground truth to the observations from satellites. Many of the layers in ELD’s such as in Gale Crater are composed of fine-grained, easily erodible material as are many other layered deposits. On the basis of albedo, erosion patterns, physical characteristics, and composition, researchers have classified different groups of layers in Gale Crater that seem to be similar to layers in other (ELD’s). The groups include: a small yardang unit, a coarse yardang unit, and a terraced unit. Generally, equatorial layered deposits are found ~ ±30° of the equator. Equatorial Layered Deposits appear in various geological settings such as cratered terrains, chaotic terrains, the Valles Marineris chasmata, and large impact craters.
Northeast Syrtis is a region of Mars once considered by NASA as a landing site for the Mars 2020 rover mission. This landing site failed in the competition with Jezero crater, another landing site dozens of kilometers away from Northeast Syrtis. It is located in the northern hemisphere of Mars at coordinates 18°N,77°E in the northeastern part of the Syrtis Major volcanic province, within the ring structure of Isidis impact basin as well. This region contains diverse morphological features and minerals, indicating that water once flowed here. It may be an ancient habitable environment; microbes could have developed and thrived here.
The Murray Formation is the name given to a distinctive mudstone geologic formation studied by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity at the Gale Crater, Mars.
Model of a section of an RNA molecule. The colored balls represent different atoms, while the names are names of compounds that make up the chain. The left side of the chain contains ribose sugar which may require boron for its formation.
Chemical diagram of a part of RNA. Ribose sugars are connected by phosphate groups. One base is shown.
Diagram showing two possible ways that boron was deposited in veins at Gale Crater