Research in the WROONA Group Daniel Mège FNP project TEAM 2011/7-9 October 2011 - June 2015 + one...
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Transcript of Research in the WROONA Group Daniel Mège FNP project TEAM 2011/7-9 October 2011 - June 2015 + one...
Research in the WROONA GroupResearch in the WROONA Group
Daniel MègeDaniel Mège
FNP project TEAM 2011/7-9FNP project TEAM 2011/7-9October 2011 - June 2015October 2011 - June 2015
+ one or two unrealistic ideas for future instrumental development+ one or two unrealistic ideas for future instrumental development
Wroona is a small blue world in Wroona is a small blue world in Wroona system, located on the far edge Wroona system, located on the far edge of the Inner Rim in the Rayter Sector. of the Inner Rim in the Rayter Sector. The planet's continents are separated The planet's continents are separated by vast oceans, and their blue-sand by vast oceans, and their blue-sand beaches stretch for thousands of beaches stretch for thousands of kilometers. The near-human kilometers. The near-human inhabitants of Wroona, numbering over inhabitants of Wroona, numbering over seven billion, are a blue-skinned species seven billion, are a blue-skinned species with a lighthearted and optimistic with a lighthearted and optimistic outlook on life. outlook on life.
StarWars wikiStarWars wiki
Mars helps understand the EarthMars helps understand the EarthEarth helps understand MarsEarth helps understand Mars
© John C. Holden
Present collaborationsPresent collaborations
Comparative geoscienceComparative geoscience
Research topicsResearch topics
MarsMarsvs.vs.
AfarAfar
Similar processesSimilar processesSocompaPeru
Valles Marineris
LandslidesLandslides
Collapse of topographic ridgesCollapse of topographic ridges
Valles Marineris Tatra MountainsSlovakia
Rock alterationRock alteration
Gale crater
SE Ethiopia
• 1 kierownik
Research teamResearch team
• 4 PhD students• 2 postdocs (adiunkt)
• 1 PhD student• 1 adiunkt (zastępca kierownika)• 1 professor
Science topicsScience topics
• Evolution of paleoenvironments• Cold environments• Mass wasting processes
Datasets usedDatasets used
Spacecraft Instrument Data type Basic usage Resolution /pixel
Mars Global Surveyor MOC Panchromatic imagery morphology 6 m minMOLA Laser altimetry shots topography, gravity maps variableMAG-ER Magnetic field measurements magnetic maps
Mars Express HRSC Stereoscopic imagery morphology, topography 10 m, DEM 50 mOMEGA Hyperspectral cubes mineralogy 300 mMaRS Orbital tracking gravity anomaly maps
Mars Odyssey THEMIS Day-time imagery morphology 19 mNight-time IR imagery surface thermal properties 100 m
MarsReconnaissanceOrbiter
CTX Panchromatic imagery morphology, topography 5 m, DEM 20 mHiRISE Panchromatic imagery morphology, topography 25 cm, DEM 1 mCRISM Hyperspectral cubes mineralogy 18 mSHARAD Sounding radar subsurface structure 15 m (vertical)
Mars Science Laboratory Various Various geological comparison between Gale crater and Wroona Group study areas
Favourite study areaFavourite study area
Valles MarinerisValles Marineris
• tectonic• volcanic• sedimentary• glacial, fluvial, aeolian
- Window to the Martian crust (10 km deep)- Fossilized environmental successions in the landscapes- Variety of geological processes common to Mars and Earth
130 km
8.5 km8.5 km8.5 km8.5 km
Valles MarinerisValles Marineris
The whole Mars history is there!
What do we need? What do we need?
Ideas
• more high resolution imagery• better spectral data• better topography
… more and better everything…
We need to go to the field!We need to go to the field!
• Check the surface (geology)• Check the subsurface (geophysics)
Let's be innovative!
Let's explore the field!Let's explore the field!
Subsurface geophysicsSubsurface geophysics
Crustal structureCrustal deformation features Mège and Masson, 1996
© Medialab, ESA 2001
Subsurface structure
Gravity-driven topographicdeformation
Mège andBourgeois, 2011
Subsurface geophysicsSubsurface geophysics
• Seismicity• Resistivity• Magnetotelluric imaging
Okavango Rift, BotswanaOkavango Rift, Botswana
MT surveyMosley Bufford et al., 2012
Gulf of MexicoGulf of MexicoSeismic survey
Pindell et al., 2011
• Seismicitygeophones
Geophone 4, Apollo 17
Subsurface geophysicsSubsurface geophysics
• Resistivity• Magnetotelluric imaging
electrodes
Mole (in 2008)
Let's explore the field!Let's explore the field!
Geological field workGeological field work
• Valles Marineris is nice
• It has recorded on limited surface areas more geologic events than any other site on Mars• These successions are concentrated on small surface areas
• It has the reputation of being unpredictable (surface roughness/ellipse problem)• It is nonsense!
MSL could have landedin a place similar to this in Gale Crater
MSL landing site proposedby Chonacki and HynekMSL landing site proposedby Chonacki and Hynek
100 km
5 different sites were proposed in VM for MSL5 different sites were proposed in VM for MSL
How to get safely to nice rock outcrops?How to get safely to nice rock outcrops?How to get safely to nice rock outcrops?How to get safely to nice rock outcrops?
But the engineering constraint remains:But the engineering constraint remains:a huge surface area must be smooth for landinga huge surface area must be smooth for landing
corollary
there is not much to seethere is not much to see
Great discoveries are not planned!Great discoveries are not planned!
• Technological challengeTechnological challenge
Considered option:
• Back to the basicsBack to the basics of space exploration:
like the incredible Curiosity landing
EXPLORE instead of find what we are expecting to find
like the New Horizons spacecraft
• Scientific and technological visibilityScientific and technological visibility
?
The Mars ballsreplace humans in the field.The Mars ballsreplace humans in the field.
• are robust and light enough to be easily transported by wind
• travel following the wind conditions and make observations and measurements when stabilized
The Mars balls…
• Radio communication
• Science payload: MS/HS camera and other sensors (thermal, mag…)
• Automatically inflattable for higher portance and instrument protection between observation sites
• Internal gravity balance for instrument orientation control
• Spring/hammering mechanism to start blocked balls or change the ball orientation for new measurements
• 10, 20, 50 items released in one flight?
• Requires good knowledge of wind conditions in Valles Marineris
The Mars ballsOther featuresOther features
ARES platform (Joel Levine, NASA LaRC)prepared for another NASA Scout mission
Carriers that have already been developed:
KittyHawk glider, NASA Scout mission (Wendy Calvin, UNR),was to be flown above Valles Marineris in 2003 for the 100thanniversary of the Wright brothers' flight
ARES Scout mission payload
Let's make it true!