MARS EXPLORATION ROVER LANDING SITE MEMORANDUM
Results of the Landing Site Workshop and Immediate Plans

October 25, 2001, 2001

To: MER Project and Landing Site Personnel

From: M. Golombek

Re: Results of the Landing Site Workshop and Immediate Plans

At the recommendation of MER Project personnel, this memo describes the results of the Second MER Landing Site Workshop held October 17-18, 2001 in Pasadena and describes our near term plans. The landing site workshop was an overwhelming success with 4 prime locations selected by a clear consensus of attendees. Attached in this and a companion e-mail are 6 JPG files showing the locations of the 4 prime sites and 2 backups. Five of the files show the excellent MOC coverage that has been acquired of the sites so far. They are (in no particular order):

The 2 backup sites include one in Isidis Planitia and a second in Eos Chasma.

(Note: links connect to site maps.)

We are presently in the process of evaluating the location of the prime ellipse in each of these regions. These are the current plans.

Hematite:
TM20B and TM10A had been the prime site for ROTO imaging. The latest ellipses are smaller than previous ones so we have the opportunity to move the ellipses around some. Previously there was a slight preference for TM19B because windows into the older terrain appeared more abundant, but TM20B was the prime because it was wholly in the hematite deposit. With the ellipses smaller, it may be advantageous to select TM19B and move it slightly south. Regardless of which is selected as the prime, we will try to move the A/B ellipse pairs to overlap as much as possible so that MOC coverage will apply to both.

Melas:
The Melas ellipses will not change in the near future. The present A/B ellipses are as close to the canyon wall and interior mound as possible to access the interior deposits in the center of the ellipse. If the ellipse were to grow slightly in the future, it might be necessary to move the ellipse to the north, but this is not advantageous to accessing the interior deposits.

Athabasca Vallis:
Currently the preference is for the southern of the ellipses shown, but we are planning on looking at a number of data sets before finalizing it.

Gusev crater:
The ellipse in Gusev will be moved to the west and south. The rougher looking etched terrain in the southern and eastern part of Gusev crater correlates with areas that have high MOLA pulse spread. The ellipse will be moved to avoid this potentially hazardous terrain.

Isidis:
Rough looking terrain in MOC images in IP98B and IP85A correlates with higher 1 km scale slopes and higher MOLA pulse spreads. IP84A and IP96B appear smoother in both the MOC images and in the calculated slopes and MOLA pulse spread. These ellipses will be moved south closer to the basin margin, where MOC images show a number of channels emanating from the highlands, and the ellipses will be made to overlap.

Eos Chasma:
No changes to the ellipse are planned.

After these ellipse changes are made in consultation with project personnel and scientists working on the sites, we will send new ellipses out and request MOC images be acquired of the sites.