Title |
Overview of the Mars Pathfinder Mission and Assessment of Landing Site Predictions
|
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Published in |
Science, December 1997
|
DOI | 10.1126/science.278.5344.1743 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
M. P. Golombek, R. A. Cook, T. Economou, W. M. Folkner, A. F. C. Haldemann, P. H. Kallemeyn, J. M. Knudsen, R. M. Manning, H. J. Moore, T. J. Parker, R. Rieder, J. T. Schofield, P. H. Smith, R. M. Vaughan |
Abstract |
Chemical analyses returned by Mars Pathfinder indicate that some rocks may be high in silica, implying differentiated parent materials. Rounded pebbles and cobbles and a possible conglomerate suggest fluvial processes that imply liquid water in equilibrium with the atmosphere and thus a warmer and wetter past. The moment of inertia indicates a central metallic core of 1300 to 2000 kilometers in radius. Composite airborne dust particles appear magnetized by freeze-dried maghemite stain or cement that may have been leached from crustal materials by an active hydrologic cycle. Remote-sensing data at a scale of generally greater than approximately 1 kilometer and an Earth analog correctly predicted a rocky plain safe for landing and roving with a variety of rocks deposited by catastrophic floods that are relatively dust-free. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 3 | 3% |
United Kingdom | 1 | 1% |
Italy | 1 | 1% |
Austria | 1 | 1% |
Unknown | 83 | 93% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 18 | 20% |
Researcher | 17 | 19% |
Student > Master | 10 | 11% |
Professor > Associate Professor | 8 | 9% |
Student > Bachelor | 6 | 7% |
Other | 13 | 15% |
Unknown | 17 | 19% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Earth and Planetary Sciences | 23 | 26% |
Engineering | 15 | 17% |
Physics and Astronomy | 13 | 15% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 5 | 6% |
Computer Science | 3 | 3% |
Other | 14 | 16% |
Unknown | 16 | 18% |