[meteorite-list] New Online Map Reveals Evidence of the Forces that Once Shaped Mars

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:20:10 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200804241820.LAA04688_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

Applied Physics Laboratory
Johns Hopkins University
Laurel, Maryland

Media Contacts:
J. Huergo
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
240-228-5618 or 443-778-5618

April 21, 2008

New Online Map Reveals Evidence of the Forces that Once Shaped Mars

A new online map lets visitors explore Mars' past through a collection of
high-resolution observations from one of the most powerful spectrometers
ever sent to the Red Planet. Evidence of ancient bodies of water, flowing
rivers and groundwater peeks out from beneath layers of hardened magma and
dust -- testaments to Mars' progression through wet, volcanic and dry eras.

The data come from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars
(CRISM), on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. CRISM's primary
mission is to search for signs that liquid water once existed on Mars by
identifying minerals that form only in the presence of water. Molecules of
water trapped in these minerals leave particular patterns in the sunlight
that reflects off of them and into CRISM, which senses up to 544 "colors,"
or wavelengths, of light.

A team of researchers at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory (APL), which built and operates the instrument, has converted the
complex CRISM data into easy-to-understand composite images. "The images
clearly show the distribution of certain minerals, which tells us about the
planet's history," says Scott Murchie of APL, CRISM's principal
investigator. "This map moves the information out of the domain of
specialists and makes the very latest Mars research accessible to anyone
with an interest in the planet." The online collection currently includes
more than 900 observations, and more are being added as the team prepares
them.

The high-resolution map can be found on the "CRISM Data Products: Viewing
Features on Mars" Web site, at
     http://crism-map.jhuapl.edu/
and is best viewed with Firefox 2.0, Netscape 7.2, or Internet Explorer 7.0,
or better.

Visitors to the site choose from a selection of global background maps made
by instruments on NASA's Viking, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey
spacecraft. They can zoom in, click on particular CRISM observations that
dot the maps, and access a variety of images constructed from the 544-color
data. These include versions of each observation that show the locations of
water and carbon dioxide ice; iron-containing igneous minerals formed by
volcanic activity or cratering; iron minerals that have been altered by
oxygen in the atmosphere; and clay-like and sulfate minerals that were
formed by past liquid water.

"The images provide good indication of where there are mineral signatures of
volcanic deposits or past wet environments," says APL's Frank Seelos,
CRISM's science operations lead. "Researchers can browse the map to identify
interesting sites and then download the full data from NASA's Planetary Data
System, an archive of data products from NASA planetary missions.
Non-scientists can get a sense of the variety of geologic features on Mars,
and the variety of processes that created them."

"This is the first time that these simplified versions of complex
spectrometer data have been made easily available to both the science
community and public," says Olivier Barnouin-Jha, a member of the CRISM
operations team at APL. "The techniques we used were developed by scientists
working on CRISM and a similar instrument, called OMEGA, on the European
Space Agency's Mars Express. OMEGA's team pioneered some of the techniques
that we use, and CRISM provides unprecedented resolution for an imaging
spectrometer at Mars."

APL has built more than 150 spacecraft instruments over the past four
decades. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California
Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin
Space Systems, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project and
built the spacecraft.

The Applied Physics Laboratory, a division of the Johns Hopkins University,
meets critical national challenges through the innovative application of
science and technology. For more information, visit
     http://www.jhuapl.edu
For more information on CRISM, visit
     http://crism.jhuapl.edu
Received on Thu 24 Apr 2008 02:20:10 PM PDT