Source: http://announcements.surf.caltech.edu/?event=ViewAODetail&id=2077&inFrame=&type=SURF&formType=AO_JPL
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 22:57:51+00:00

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Background: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is seeking highly motivated undergraduate students to participate in Mars data analysis focused on information returned by the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, the Mars Exploration Rovers, and InSight lander. Data to be studied will be from the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), the Context Imager (CTX), and instruments of the Mars Exploration Rover Athena Science Payload and the InSight lander.
Description: Work will be directed at characterizing the geology and safety of candidate landing sites for future Mars missions, including the Mars 2020 Rover. Safety issues focus on quantification of slopes of concern for landing safely in potential landing sites using MOLA data and digital elevation models from stereo images. Work will also be related to measuring rocks on the surface of Mars from orbit and on the surface and understanding their context. This will include analyzing rocks visible in high-resolution HiRISE images and quantifying their size-frequency distribution to better understand landing safety. InSight work will involve mapping geological features observed in the images such as craters, eolian bedforms, rocks, and soils. The maps will help define the geological processes responsible for creating and modifying the surface. HiRISE and CTX images will also be georeferenced to lower resolution images (CTX, THEMIS) and topographic maps (MOLA). Additional work may include analyzing craters on Mars to investigate rock distributions in their ejecta, how they change with time and their morphologic state as well as the geomorphology as a clue to the subsurface geology.
Golombek, M. P., et al., 2003, Selection of the Mars Exploration Rover landing sites: Journal of Geophysical Research, Planets, v. 108(E12), 8072, doi:10.1029/2003JE002074, 48pp.
Golombek, M., et al., 2005, Assessment of Mars Exploration Rover landing site predictions: Nature, v. 436, p. 44-48 (7 July 2005), doi: 10.1038/nature03600.
Golombek, M. P., et al., 2006, Erosion rates at the Mars Exploration Rover landing sites and long-term climate change on Mars: Journal of Geophysical Research, Planets, v. 111, E12S10, doi:10.1029/2006JE002754.
Golombek, M. P., and McSween Jr., H. Y., 2007, Mars: Landing site geology, mineralogy and geochemistry: Chapter 17, p. 331-348, in Encyclopedia of the Solar System, Second Edition, L. A. McFadden, P. R. Weissman and T. V. Johnson, eds., Academic Press/Elsevier, San Diego, 966 pp.
Golombek, M. P., et al., 2008, Martian surface properties from joint analysis of orbital, Earth-based, and surface observations: Chapter 21 in, The Martian Surface: Composition, Mineralogy and Physical Properties, J. F. Bell III editor, Cambridge University Press, p. 468-497.
Golombek, M., K. Robinson, A. McEwen, N. Bridges, B. Ivanov, L. Tornabene, and R. Sullivan, 2010, Constraints on ripple migration at Meridiani Planum from Opportunity and HiRISE observations of fresh craters, J. Geophys. Res., 115, E00F08, doi:10.1029/2010JE003628.
Golombek, M., et al., 2012, Selection of the Mars Science Laboratory landing site: Space Science Reviews, v. 170, p. 641-737, DOI: 10.1007/s11214-012-9916-y.
Rock distributions and their importance in landing site selection can be found in: Golombek, M., and Rapp, D., 1997, Size-frequency distributions of rocks on Mars and Earth analog sites: Implications for future landed missions: Journal of Geophysical Research, Planets, v. 102, p. 4117-4129. Golombek, M. P., et al., 2003, Rock size-frequency distributions on Mars and implications for MER landing safety and operations: Journal of Geophysical Research, Planets, v. 108(E12), 8086, doi:10.1029/2002JE002035, 23pp. Golombek, M. P., et al., 2006, Geology of the Gusev cratered plains from the Spirit rover traverse: Journal of Geophysical Research, Planets, v. 110, E02S07, doi:10.1029/2005JE002503. Golombek, M. P., et al., 2008, Size-frequency distributions of rocks on the northern plains of Mars with special reference to Phoenix landing surfaces: Journal of Geophysical Research, Planets, v. 113, E00A09, doi:10.1029/2007JE003065.
Golombek, M., Huertas, A., Kipp, D. and Calef, F., 2012, Detection and characterization of rocks and rock size-frequency distributions at the final four Mars Science Laboratory landing sites: Mars, v. 7, p. 1-22, doi:10.1555/mars.2012.0001.
Student Requirements: Most of the work will be done on personal computers utilizing mixed operating systems (Windows and Macintosh), so experience with them is important. The ability to measure and tabulate rocks, place the data into standard spreadsheets, and plot the results is required for the work on rock distributions. Experience with ArcGIS mapping software (10.x), especially georeferencing imagery, is preferred as our landing site data is specifically formatted to work with this GIS package. Additional knowledge of Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers (ISIS 3.x), SOCET SET, or Matlab software would be a plus. Preference will be given to students with backgrounds in geology or planetary science and other related disciplines such as geographic information science, physics, chemistry, astronomy, engineering, and computer sciences. The students will spend most or all of their time at JPL. They may be supervised by one or two research scientists and may also work alongside other researchers and students.

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