The Mars Science Laboratory "Curiosity" is nearing a launch date and with it scientists are deciciding which our four candidate landing sites the mission will focus. Some 52% of the Spaceports readers selected Mawrth Vallis. A public announcement on the final landing site decision is expected soon.
Mawrth Vallis is a valley on Mars with an ancient water outflow channel with light-colored clay-rich rocks. It was formed in and subsequently covered by layered rocks, from beneath which it is now being exhumed.
The Mawrth Vallis region holds special interest because of the presence of phyllosilicate (clay) minerals which form only if water is available, first identified in data from the OMEGA spectrometer on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars has identified aluminium-rich and iron-rich clays, each with a unique distribution. Some of the clays recently discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are montmorillonite and kaolinite, and nontronite.
Clays minerals easily preserve microscopic life on Earth, so perhaps traces of ancient life may be found at Mawrth.
Mawrth Vallis is a valley on Mars with an ancient water outflow channel with light-colored clay-rich rocks. It was formed in and subsequently covered by layered rocks, from beneath which it is now being exhumed.
The Mawrth Vallis region holds special interest because of the presence of phyllosilicate (clay) minerals which form only if water is available, first identified in data from the OMEGA spectrometer on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars has identified aluminium-rich and iron-rich clays, each with a unique distribution. Some of the clays recently discovered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are montmorillonite and kaolinite, and nontronite.
Clays minerals easily preserve microscopic life on Earth, so perhaps traces of ancient life may be found at Mawrth.
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