Overview of the Mars Pathfinder mission and assessment of landing site predictions

Science. 1997 Dec 5;278(5344):1743-8. doi: 10.1126/science.278.5344.1743.

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.

MeSH terms

  • Atmosphere
  • Extraterrestrial Environment*
  • Geologic Sediments
  • Magnetics
  • Mars*
  • Water

Substances

  • Water