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Ground Ice at the Phoenix Landing Site: A Preflight AssessmentOne of the objectives of the Mars Scout mission, Phoenix, is to characterize the present state of water in the martian environment, in a location where water may play a significant role in the present and past habitability of Mars. Given the generally dry and cold climate of Mars today any substantial amount of water is expected to occur in the form of ground ice (subsurface ice) within the regolith. The Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer has indicated abundant subsurface hydrogen and inferred ground ice at high latitudes. Therefore, the Phoenix mission will be targeted to land in the northern high latitudes (approximately 65 degrees N - 75 degrees N) where ground ice is expected to be abundantly available for analysis. The lander will be capable of excavating, sampling, and analyzing, dry and water-rich/icy soils. The location and depth of excavation necessary to achieve the goals of sampling and analysis of icy material become important parameters to assess. In the present work we ask two key questions: 1) At what depth within the regolith do we expect to find ice? 2) How might this depth vary over the region of potential landing sites? Numerous lines of evidence can be employed to provide an indication of the presence or absence of shallow ground ice at the potential landing sites. For example geomorphology, neutrons, gamma rays, and theory each contribute clues to an overall understanding of the distribution of ice. Orbital observations provide information on a variety of spatial scales, typically 10 s of meters (patterned ground) to 100 s of kilometers (gamma rays). While information on all of these scales are important, of particular interest is how the presence and depth of ground ice might vary on spatial scales comparable to the lander and its work area. While ground ice may be stable (and present) on a regional scale, local-scale slopes and changes in the physical characteristics of soils can result in significant variations in the distribution of ice.
Document ID
20040060049
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Mellon, M. T.
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Arvidson, R. E.
(Washington Univ. Saint Louis, MO, United States)
Seelos, F.
(Washington Univ. Saint Louis, MO, United States)
Tamppari, L. K.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Boynton, W. V.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Smith, P.
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Mars Polar Processes: Land and Sky
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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