11 April 2003
- Mars Exploration Rover Landing Sites Chosen
- The MER landing sites have been chosen! The final sites will be Meridiani
Planum ("Hematite") and Gusev Crater. See the 2003 MER Landing Site website for more details.
2 November 2001
- Potential Mars Exploration Rover Landing Sites Narrowed to Four
- The most recent landing site workshop was held 17-18 October in Pasadena, CA. During that meeting, the field of potential landing sites was narrowed from well over 175 down to four top candidates. In order, the final four sites are: Sinus Meridiani ("Hematite"), Melas Chasma (Valles Marineris), Gusev Crater, and Athabasca Valles (Elysium). See the 2003 MER Landing Site website for more details.
26 September 2001
- Announcement of Opportunity for Mars Exploration Rover Participating Scientist Proposals
- Want to be a participating scientist on the MER missions? Go to the NASA Office of Space Science Research Announcements website for details on how to propose.
19 September 2001
- Next
Landing Site Selection Workshop Rescheduled
- Due to recent events, the landing site selection workshop originally scheduled for 17 - 18 September in Ithaca, NY has been rescheduled for 17 - 18 October in Pasadena, California. You can view more information about the workshop at the 2003 MER Landing Site Website.
4 February 2001
- Landing Site Selection Workshop held 24-25 January 2001
- Dozens of Mars scientists convened at Ames Research Center two weeks ago to begin examining in further detail potential landing sites for the two 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Favored sites will be the subject of specially-targeted imaging by the Mars Orbiter Camera aboard Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) during the next year of the orbiter's extended mission. These images will be used to characterize the potential landing sites from both scientific and engineering (safety) perspectives. Data from the MGS Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) and Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) will also be used to better understand the geology of potential landing sites and assess landing site safety. You can view the summary of the workshop at the 2003 MER Landing Site Website.
3 February 2000
- Mini-TES Delivered
- The 2.2 kg Mini-TES instrument was delivered to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in August 1999. It is currently awaiting integration with the Pancam instrument, which provides azimuth and elevation control for Mini-TES viewing of the landing site.
21 November 1997
- Mini-TES Illustration and
Description on Athena/Cornell Web Site
- An illustration and description of Mini-TES is
now available courtesy of the
Athena web site at Cornell University.
6 November 1997
- Mini-TES Selected for 2001 Rover Mission
- Mini-TES or Mini-Thermal Emission Spectrometer, is one
of the instruments designed for the Athena rover package
selected on 6 November 1997 by NASA to land on Mars.
- Fabrication of Mini-TES and the Athena rover begin
immediately (late 1997). The spacecraft will launch on or around
3 April 2001.
- Mini-TES takes thermal infrared spectra of the martian landscape
by viewing wavelengths from 5 to 40 micrometers at 5 cm-1
resolution.
- Mini-TES will be used to identify rock and mineral types that are of
interest to the rover team for detailed study. Rocks of interest
would include those that might be related to the search for evidence
of life on Mars (e.g., carbonates, evaporites, shales).
- Mini-TES is being fabricated via a partnership between Hughes
Santa Barbara Remote Sensing (Goleta, CA) and Arizona State
University (Tempe, AZ).
