# Presentation: 252032

## MSL Landing Site Selection Activities

- John Grant and Matt Golombek
- Co-chairs, MSL Landing Site Steering Committee
- *Please note that members of the Press are present at this workshop

## Guiding Principles:

- Landing site selection is critical to all aspects of MSL mission and program success (no landing, no science)
- Final site recommendation, selection, and approval is the job of the Project, MSL Science Team, and NASA HQ, respectively.
***The broad expertise of the science community is crucial to the identification of optimal sites.***
- Process is open to all and has no predetermined outcome

## Basis for Site Selection:

- Sites Must Meet _**All**__ _Engineering Requirements
- Selected Sites Are Best Suited to Achieving MSLMission Science Objectives:
- Assess the present and past habitability of the martian environments accessed by the mission.
- Assess the biological potential of the regions accessed, characterize their geology and geochemistry, investigate planetary processes that influence habitability, including the role of water, and characterize surface radiation.
- Candidate landing sites should contain evidence of a past or present habitable environment and the evidence for habitability should be expected to be preserved for, accessible to, and interpretable by the MSL investigations..

**MSL Science Payload Described in Next Talk**

## MSL Landing Site Selection Process

**SELECTION PROCESS TWO PARALLEL ACTIVITIES**
- 1) Define and Refine Set of Landing Site Constraints Based on Prelim. S/C Design
- Elevation, Lat., Ellipse Size, Rock Abundance & Height, Slope, Dust
- 2) Map these Constraints into Potential Landing Sites on Mars
- Use Available Remote Sensing Data and Models
**ACQUISITION OF NEW ORBITAL DATA OF LANDING SITES **
**MUST LAND SAFELY - *****Safety of Site is Paramount***
- Get No Science if Don't - Risk to Mission and Program
**MUST BE DEFENSIBLE**
- The AA will want to know who, how, what, where, and why
- Must Survive Multiple Withering Reviews, Must be Thorough
- Do Everything Possible to Understand Surface Properties
- Factor Science Objectives of Mission into Selection of Safe Sites
**MUST BE DONE IN AN OPEN ENVIRONMENT**
- Multiple Opportunities for Community Involvement
- Open Workshops - Provide Science Community Input to Landing Site
- Also Educational Opportunities & Public Outreach

## Participants in MSL Landing Site Selection:

**NASA-Appointed Landing Site Steering Committee**
- Co-chairs Grant and Golombek  (MDAP peer-reviewed/funded)
- Other Members Appointed by NASA HQ
**Science Community Input**
- Broad e-mail distribution, Workshop Attendance, Websites
**Mars Characterization Investigators** (MDAP, MFRP, CDP)
- Insight into Landing Site Science and Safety
**Additional Members**
- Blend Experience and Mission Involvement
- Provides for Feed-back on Process
**MSL Science Team and Project:**
- Science Team helps identify and evaluate merits of sites
- Engineering teams define the engineeringconstraints and help analyze aspects of the surface and atmosphericenvironments.
- Project management and the PSG review scientific analyses of sites.
**Headquarters and Other Ex-Officios**
- Ensures broad, relevant MEP participation
- Access to Ongoing Mission Data
- Planetary Protection Compliance** **
**All Landing Site Selection Activities Documented on Two Websites**
- _[http:](http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/)__[//marsoweb](http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/)__[.](http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/)__[nas](http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/)__[.](http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/)__[nasa](http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/)__[.](http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/)__[gov/landingsites/](http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/)_
- _[http:](http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/)__[//webgis](http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/)__[.](http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/)__[wr](http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/)__[.](http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/)__[usgs](http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/)__[.gov](http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/)__[/](http://webgis.wr.usgs.gov/)__msl_

## MSL Landing Site Steering Committee Members

## Data Sets for MSL Landing Site Selection:

- Expect Exhaustive Landing Site Evaluation Process

## MSL Engineering Requirements

- Latitude
- Wide latitude band ±60°
- No Subsolar Latitude Power Constraint [latitude band ±10-15°]
- Elevation - “Land Anywhere” wrt Previous Landers
- Up to 2.0 km Provides Access to ~83% of Mars
- VL1, 2 & MPF Landed Below <-3 km [In Northern Lowlands]
- MER Landing Sites <-1.3 km
- And Most of Highlands
- Key Terrain for Exploring Early Noachian Environment
- Possibly Warm and Wet, Conducive for Life
- Ellipse Size
- Small ~20 km Diameter Allows >>>103 to 109 Sites (potentially)
- Number Sites Scales with Ellipse Size - smooth, flat, safe
- Beagle - Length 500 km - 1 Site
- MPF - Length 200-300 km <10 Sites
- MER - Length ~100 km ~150 Sites
- “Go To” Sites Possible - Specific Area Identified from Orbit
- Land Next to Area of Interest, Traverse Out of Ellipse to Area of Interest
- More in Subsequent Talks....

## MSL Landing Altitude < 2.0 km

- MOLA Topography ±90o Lat, 180o to -180°W Lon

**Black area is topography > 2.0 km**
**Lines at ±50o, ±60o latitude **

-    Summary of Current Engineering Constraints on MSL Landing Sites

## Planetary Protection Requirements

- The MSL assigned to Category IVc by NASA's Planetary Protection Office (more on this in subsequent talks).
- Landing sites not known to have extant water or water-ice within one meter of the surface
- Later access to "special regions" defined in NPR 8020.12C permitted only in the vertical direction through use of sterilized sampling hardware
- Special regions - terrestrial organisms are likely to propagate, or interpreted to have a high potential for the existence of extant martian life forms
- MEPAG Special Regions Science Advisory Group
- Planetary Protection Office compliance of specific landing sites and nearby regions

## MSL High Level Schedule:

**A**

**B**

**C/D**

**E**

**2004**

**2005**

**2006**

**2007**

**2008**

**2009**

**2010**

**2011**

**Fiscal Years**

**MSL Mission Phases**

**...**

**MSR**

**PDR**

**MRR**

**09-10/09**
**Launch Window**

**6-12/10**
**Arrival Window**

**Landed Ops**

**Select landing ellipse**
**L-1 month**

**5/06**
**1st LSW**
**~40 sites**
**Prioritized List**
**For MRO**

**10/07**
**2nd LSW**
**~20-24 sites**

**8/08 3rd**
**5-10 sites/LZ**

**10/08**
**Select**
**Landing**
**Site Zone**
**L-1 yr**

**6/09 4th LSW**
**1 site**

**Instrument**
**Selection**

**CDR**

## LANDING SITE SELECTION TIMELINE

**09-10/09****	****Launch **
**9/09   ****	****Selection of actual landing ellipse**
**6/09  ****	****4th, Final Workshop**
**10/08 [L-1 yr]  ****Selection/Target Landing Site Zone/LV**
**8/08  ****	****3rd Workshop Review &**
-                     Recommend Landing Site Zone/Zones
**10/07  ****	****2nd Landing Site Workshop**
**5/06  ****	****1st Landing Site Workshop**
**1/06****	****	****Announcement/Invitation to Workshop**
**	****	****Engineering Constraints Defined**
**	****	****Science Objectives Defined**
**11/05  ****	****Preliminary Engineering Constraints Defined**

## 1st Landing Site Workshop 5/06

**5/06 - First Landing Site Workshop **
- Community Provide Suggestions for Landing Sites
**MSL Engineering Constraints & Science Objectives Known**
- Instrument Selected, Science Objectives and Habitability Defined
**Lots of THEMIS and MOC Images Available, **
- Use Data to Guide Selection
**MER Prime Mission Over (but still going!!)**
- Community/Project Can Incorporate What Has Been Learned
**HRSC & Omega images available from 1/04**
**MRO Primary Science starts in late 2006**
**Workshop Objective is Prioritization of Potential Sites – ~40**
- Used to Target MRO, MOC, THEMIS, HRSC Images

## http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/msl/workshops/data/

|        LANDING SITES PROPOSED TO FIRST MSL WORKSHOP |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NAME | LOCATION | ELEVATION | TARGET | PROPOSER |
| Gale Crater | 4.6°S, 137.2°E | -4.5 km | Interior Layered Deposits | J. Bell, N. Bridges |
| Eberswalde Crater | 24.0°S, 326.3°E | -0.8 and -0.4 km | Delta | J. Schieber, J. Dickson |
| Eberswalde Crater | 23.8°S,326.7°E | -1.48 km | Delta | J. Rice |
| Candor Chasma | Various | -4 to +3 km | Sulfate Deposits | N. Mangold |
| Melas Chasma | 9.8°S, 283.6°E | -1.9 km | Paleolake | C. Quantin |
| E. Melas Chasma | 11.62°S, 290.45°E | Below-2 km | Interior Layered Deposits |       M. Chojnacki |
| Aram Chaos | 2.5°N, 338°E | -1.6 to -3.8 km | Hematite | N. Cabrol |
| Iani Chaos | 2°S , ~342°E | Below -2 km | Hematite, Sulfate | T. Glotch |
| W. Meridiani | 7.5oN, 354oE | ~-1 to -1.5 km | Layered Sediments | A. Howard |
| N. Sinus Meridiani | 5.6°N, 358°E | ~-1.5 km | Crater lake sediments | L. Posiolova |
| E. Meridiani | 0°, 3.7°E | ~-1.3 km | Sedimentary Layers | B. Hynek |
| E. Meridiani | 1.8°S, 7.6°E | ~-1.0 to -1.5 km | Sediments, Hematite | H. Newsom |
| W. Arabia | 8.9°N, 358.8°E | -1.2 km | Sedimentary Rocks | E. Heydari |
| SW Arabia Terra | 2-12°N, 355-348°E | -1 km | Sed. Rocks, Methane | C. Allen |
| Becquerel Crater | 21.8°N, 351°E | -2.6 to -3.8 km | Layered Sedimentary Rocks | J. C. Bridges |
| Terby Crater | 28°S, 73°E | -5 km | Layers in crater | T. Parker |
| Terby Crater | 28 ̊S, 74°E | -5 km | Light-toned Outcrops | Z. Noe Dobrea |
| Terby Crater | 28°S, 73°E | -5 km | Layered Material | S. Wilson |

- _[http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/msl/workshops/data/](http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/landingsites/msl/workshops/data/)_

## Slide 16

|       LANDING SITES PROPOSED TO FIRST MSL WORKSHOP |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NAME | LOCATION | ELEVATION | TARGET | PROPOSER |
| S. Holden Crater | ~26.4oS, 325.3oE | -2.25 km | Lacustrine Layers | M. Malin |
| Holden Crater | 26.4oS, 325.3oE | -2.3 km | Layered Materials | R. Irwin, J. Grant |
| Holden Crater | 26.1oS, 326oE | -2.2 km | Layered Materials | J. Rice |
| Palos Crater | 2.7oS, 110.8oE | -0.75 km | Layered Materials | J. Rice |
| Argyre | 56.8oS, 317.7oE | -1.5 km | Glacial Features | J. Kargel |
| S. Hemisphere | 49°S, 14°E | Above -0.5 km | Recent Climate Deposits | M. Kreslavsky |
| Hale Crater | 35.7°S, 323.4°E | –2.4 km | Gullies | W. E. Dietrich |
| Wirtz Crater | 48.6°S, 334°E | 0.6 km | Gullies | W. E. Dietrich |
| Athabasca Vallis | 10N, ?oE | -2.4 km | Cerberus Rupes Deposits | D. Burr |
| Nili Fossae Crater | 18.4oN, 77.68oE | -2.6 km | Valley Networks, layers | J. Rice |
| NE Syrtis Major | ~10oN, ~70oE | ~0.5 to 1.5 km | Volcanics | R. Harvey |
| Margaritifer basin | 12.77oS, 338.1oE | -2.12 km | Fluvial Deposits | K. Williams |
| Margaritifer basin | 11.54oS, 337.3oE | -2.535 km | Fluvial Deposits | K. Williams |
| Avernus Colles | 1.0oS, 169.5oE | Below -2 km | High iron abundance | L. Crumpler |
| Dao Vallis | 40oS, 85oE | Below -2 km | A major valley | L. Crumpler |
| Isidis Basin floor | 5-15oN, 80-95oE | Below -2 km | Volatile sink | L. Crumpler |
| Hypanis Vallis | 11oN, 314oE | Below -2 km | Delta | L. Crumpler |
| NW Slope Valleys | Various | Above 0 km? | Flood Features | J. Dohm |
| Nili Fossae | ~22oN, ~75oE | -0.6 km | Phyllosilicates | J. Mustard |
| Marwth Vallis | 22.3oN, 343.5oE | ~-2 km | Phyllosilicates | J-P Bibring |
| Juventae Chasma | 5°S, 297°E | -2 km | Layered Sulfates | J. Grotzinger |

## A Look Ahead:The 2nd Landing Site Workshop 10/07

**10 months of HiRISE, CTX, CRISM Data Available**
**New MRO Discovered Sites Possible**
**Evaluate up to 40 Sites Imaged by MRO**
**Prioritize Top Dozen; **
**	****Dozen Backups**
**Repeat Coverage **
**	****for Top Dozen**
**10 Months to **
**	****Acquire and **
**	****Evaluate Data**

## 3rd Landing Site Workshop 8/08

**Recommend Landing Site Zone**
- Need to target launch vehicle
- Landing site zone is ~10° Lat. by 15° Long. box,
- within which is Landing Ellipse, Could be Multiple Ellipses
- Hq Will Likely Select Zone
**Continue MRO Data **
**	****Acquisition/Evaluation**
- Of Preferred Ellipse
- Other Possible Ellipses
- 	in Zone [maybe handful]
- Surroundings for
- 	Context for Landing Site

## 4th Landing Site Workshop 6/09

**Recommend Final Ellipse**
**10 Months before 4th Workshop**
- Complete Detailed Evaluation of Site Safety and Science
**Series Project, Program, Hq Reviews**
- Project Peer Review
- Project Confirmation Review
- Planetary Protection Compliance Review
- Hq Review and Selection
**Launch Opportunity Opens 09/15/09**
**Continued Evaluation of Landing Site**
- For Final TCM Targeting and Post-Landing Science

## Schedule for the First MSL Workshop May 31st-June  2nd

***Day 1 - Wed***
- Introductions and Goals
- Constraints and Data Sets
- Overview of Site Science
- Gale
- Argyre, etc.
- Discussion

***Day 2 - Thurs***
- Holden
- Eberswalde
- Terby
- Valles Marineris/ Chaos
- Meridiani/Arabia
- Volcanoes and/or Water
- Clays and Sulfates
- Discussion

***Day 3 - Friday ***
- What’s Next?
- (MRO/Maps)
- Summary Discussion
- Break
- Discussion and Prioritization
- Meeting ends at 12:00 pm

## What’s Next Step?MRO Mapping Starts Late 06

**At End First Workshop Prioritize Proposed Sites Into 3 Groups for MRO imaging (distinguish “Go To” sites)**
- 10-15 High Priority - Request ROTOs
- 10-15 Priority – ROTOs or Nadir imaging
- 10-15 Low Priority – Likely only Nadir imaging
**Need to Define a Region of Interest (ROI) for each site**
**Update List Regularly, Reprioritize or Introduce New Sites Based on MRO Images (no early stereo)**
**Request data for Each [See Smrekar Talk on Friday]**
**Evaluate Sites at 2nd Workshop**
- Based on MRO data [HiRISE, CRISM, CTX, SHARAD]
- and THEMIS, MOC, Omega & HRSC data