Science and Science-Enabling Activities of the SHERLOC and WATSON Imaging Systems in Jezero Crater, Mars
Number of Authors: 27 2023 (English) In: Earth and Space Science, E-ISSN 2333-5084, Vol. 10, no 11, article id e2022EA002544Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
During its first year of operation, the Perseverance rover explored the cratered and fractured floor of Jezero crater on Mars. Here, we report the use of the Scanning Habitability Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) imaging system that includes two high-resolution cameras, the Autofocus and Contextual Imager (ACI) and Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering (WATSON). ACI is a fixed focus gray scale imager with a resolution of 10.1 μm/pixel whereas WATSON is a variable field of view, variable focus imager capable of resolution down to 14 μm/pixel. WATSON is a reflight of the MArs Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) imager and has similar capabilities. During first-time activities, WATSON was used to support both science and engineering operations related to sample and abrasion patch assessment and sample collection and caching. WATSON also documented the deployment of the Ingenuity helicopter. The Crater Floor Campaign identified two primary rock units, the Máaz formation and the Séítah formation, which have been interpreted as lava flows and an olivine cumulate, respectively. Interpretation of rock textures with WATSON and ACI images was limited to abraded surfaces because unmodified outcrop surfaces (herein termed “natural surfaces”) show high degrees of dust covering, wind abrasion, and coating by secondary mineral products. WATSON and ACI images support the hypothesis that the material of both the Máaz and Séítah formations consists of largely aqueously altered mafic materials with varying igneous origins.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages John Wiley and Sons Inc , 2023. Vol. 10, no 11, article id e2022EA002544
Keywords [en]
abrasion; coating; crater; imaging method; lava flow; Mars; olivine; sensor
National Category
Materials Engineering
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-67915 DOI: 10.1029/2022EA002544 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85175309878 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-67915 DiVA, id: diva2:1814691
Note A portion of this work was undertaken at the University of Knoxville, Tennessee, which is the traditional territory of the Tsalagi peoples (now Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians), Tsoyahá peoples (Yuchi, Muscogee Creek), and Shawnee peoples. The work described in this paper was partially carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. JPL and CalTech are located on the ancestral land of the Gabrielino-Tongva and Hahamogna people. Many of the target names in this paper were created in conversation with the Navajo nation. Funding for this research was provided by the SHERLOC-WATSON instrument team, which is supported by the NASA Mars 2020 phase E funds to the SHERLOC investigation.
2023-11-272023-11-272023-11-27 Bibliographically approved