Geology of the InSight landing site on Mars

Golombek, M. and Warner, N. and Grant, J.A. and Hauber, Ernst and Ansan, V. and Weitz, C. and Williams, Nathan and Charalambous, C. and Wilson, S and DeMott, A. and Kopp, M. and Lethcoe-Wilson, H. and Berger, L. and Hausmann, R. and Marteau, E. and Vrettos, C. and Trussell, W. and Folkner, W.M. and Le Maistre, Sébastien and Müller, Nils and Grott, M. and Spohn, T. and Piqueux, S. and Millour, E. and Forget, F. and Daubar, Ingrid and Murdoch, N. and Lognonne, A.P. and Perrin, C. and Rodriguez, S. and Pike, T. and Parker, T. and Maki, J. and Abarca, H.E. and Deen, R. and Hall, J. and Andres, P and Ruoff, N.A. and Calef, Fred and Smrekar, S. and Baker, M. and Banks, M. and Spiga, A. and Banfield, D. and Garvin, J. and Newman, C. and Banerdt, B. (2020) Geology of the InSight landing site on Mars. Nature Communications, 11, p. 1014. Nature Publishing Group. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-14679-1. ISSN 2041-1723.

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Official URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14679-1

Abstract

The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft landed successfully on Mars and imaged the surface to characterize the surficial geology. Here we report on the geology and subsurface structure of the landing site to aid in situ geophysical investigations. InSight landed in a degraded impact crater in Elysium Planitia on a smooth sandy, granule- and pebble-rich surface with few rocks. Superposed impact craters are common and eolian bedforms are sparse. During landing, pulsed retrorockets modified the surface to reveal a near surface stratigraphy of surficial dust, over thin unconsolidated sand, underlain by a variable thickness duricrust, with poorly sorted, unconsolidated sand with rocks beneath. Impact, eolian, and mass wasting processes have dominantly modified the surface. Surface observations are consistent with expectations made from remote sensing data prior to landing indicating a surface composed of an impact-fragmented regolith overlying basaltic lava flows.

Item URL in elib:

https://elib.dlr.de/139605/

Document Type:

Article

Title:

Geology of the InSight landing site on Mars

Authors:

Authors	Institution or Email of Authors	Author's ORCID iD	ORCID Put Code
Golombek, M.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1928-2293	UNSPECIFIED
Warner, N.	SUNY at Geneseo	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Grant, J.A.	Smithsonian Institute, Washington, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Hauber, Ernst	UNSPECIFIED	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1375-304X	UNSPECIFIED
Ansan, V.	Laboratoire Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes, LPGN/CNRS, Université Nantes	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Weitz, C.	Planetary Science Institute	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Williams, Nathan	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Charalambous, C.	Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College, South Kensington Campus, London, UK	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Wilson, S	Smithsonian Institute, Washington, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
DeMott, A.	SUNY at Geneseo	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Kopp, M.	SUNY at Geneseo	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Lethcoe-Wilson, H.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Berger, L.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Hausmann, R.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Marteau, E.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Vrettos, C.	Division of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Trussell, W.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Folkner, W.M.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Le Maistre, Sébastien	Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Müller, Nils	UNSPECIFIED	https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9229-8921	UNSPECIFIED
Grott, M.	UNSPECIFIED	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8613-7096	UNSPECIFIED
Spohn, T.	UNSPECIFIED	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9322-6660	UNSPECIFIED
Piqueux, S.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA, 91109)	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Millour, E.	LMD CNRS Jussieu, Paris, France	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Forget, F.	LMD-IPSL, Paris, France	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Daubar, Ingrid	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Murdoch, N.	ISEA-SUPERO, Université de Toulouse	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Lognonne, A.P.	Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Perrin, C.	Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris VII–Denis Diderot University, CNRS, Paris, France	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Rodriguez, S.	Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), France	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Pike, T.	Imperial College of London, London, UK	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Parker, T.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Maki, J.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Abarca, H.E.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Deen, R.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Hall, J.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Andres, P	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Ruoff, N.A.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Calef, Fred	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Smrekar, S.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Baker, M.	Smithsonian Institute, Washington, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Banks, M.	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Spiga, A.	Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD/IPSL), Sorbonne Université, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, École Polytechnique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France; Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6776-6268	UNSPECIFIED
Banfield, D.	Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Garvin, J.	GSFC	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Newman, C.	Aeolis Research, Pasadena, California, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Banerdt, B.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED

Date:

February 2020

Journal or Publication Title:

Nature Communications

Refereed publication:

Yes

Open Access:

Yes

Gold Open Access:

Yes

In SCOPUS:

Yes

In ISI Web of Science:

Yes

Volume:

DOI:

10.1038/s41467-020-14679-1

Page Range:

p. 1014

Publisher:

Nature Publishing Group

ISSN:

2041-1723

Status:

Published

Keywords:

Mars, InSight, landing site, geology

HGF - Research field:

Aeronautics, Space and Transport

HGF - Program:

Space

HGF - Program Themes:

Space Exploration

DLR - Research area:

Raumfahrt

DLR - Program:

R EW - Space Exploration

DLR - Research theme (Project):

R - Project InSight - HP3

Location:

Berlin-Adlershof

Institutes and Institutions:

Institute of Planetary Research > Planetary Geology
Institute of Planetary Research > Planetary Physics

Deposited By:

Hauber, Ernst

Deposited On:

14 Dec 2020 11:23

Last Modified:

14 Dec 2020 11:23

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