Berlin 2005 – scientific programme
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EP: Extraterrestrische Physik
EP 14: Mars I
EP 14.6: Talk
Tuesday, March 8, 2005, 18:15–18:30, TU BH349
Mineralogy at the Mars-Exploration-Rover landing sites determined by the Mössbauer Spectrometer MIMOS II — •G. Klingelhöfer1, C. Schröder1, D. Rodionov1, B. Bernhardt1, I. Fleischer1, J. Foh1,2, E. Kankeleit2, U. Bonnes2, P. Gütlich1, F. Renz1, P. de Souza Jr.1, R. Gellert1,3, and R.V. Morris4 — 1Institut Anorg. u. Analyt. Chemie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz — 2Inst. Kernphysik, TU Darmstadt — 3MPI Kosmochemie, Mainz — 4NASA Johnson-Space-Center, Houston, Texas, USA
In January 2004 the US-American space agency NASA landed successfully two rovers on the surface of Mars. The Mars-Exploration-Rovers (MER) Spirit and Opportunity are both carrying our Mössbauer spectrometer MIMOS II mounted on the robotic arm (IDD). The IDD instruments are used to determine the chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soils. The MB results on rocks at the Gusev crater landing site show a primarily olivine-basalt composition. Magnetite has been identified in both soils and rocks at Gusev. The Meridiani Planum landing site looks very different from Gusev crater. Opportunity landed inside a shallow crater, with an outcrop covering part of the crater interior. Mössbauer measurements show that this outcrop material consists predominantly of the Fe-sulfate jarosite, hematite, and a basaltic component (olivine, pyroxene), supporting the presence of water at this site in the past. The plains and Eagle crater are covered by spherules with a diameter of several mm. Mössbauer data show that the composition of these spherules is dominated by the Fe-oxide hematite. This work is funded by the German Space Agency DLR (50QM9902).