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- Oberst, J., et al.
(författare)
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Planetary polar explorer – the case for a next-generation remote sensing mission to low Mars orbit
- 2022
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Ingår i: Experimental Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 54, s. 695-711
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We propose the exploration of polar areas on Mars by a next-generation orbiter mission. In particular, we aim at studying the seasonal and regional variations in snow-deposits, which – in combination with measurements of temporal variations in rotation and gravity field – will improve models of the global planetary CO2 cycle. A monitoring of polar scarps for rock falls and avalanche events may provide insights into the dynamics of ice sheets. The mapping of the complex layering of polar deposits, believed to contain an important record of climate history, may help us understand the early climate collapse on the planet. Hence, we propose an innovative next-generation exploration mission in polar circular Low Mars Orbit, which will be of interest to scientists and challenging to engineers alike. Schemes will be developed to overcome atmosphere drag forces acting upon the spacecraft by an electric propulsion system. Based on the experience of missions of similar type in Earth orbit we believe that a two-year mission in circular orbit is possible at altitudes as low as 150 km. Such a mission opens new opportunities for novel remote sensing approaches, not requiring excessive telescope equipment or power. We anticipate precision altimetry, powerful radars, high-resolution imaging, and magnetic field mapping. © 2022, The Author(s).
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- Butcher, Frances E.G., et al.
(författare)
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Eskers associated with buried glaciers in Mars' mid latitudes: recent advances and future directions
- 2022
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Ingår i: Annals of Glaciology. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0260-3055 .- 1727-5644. ; 63:87-89, s. 33-38
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Until recently, the influence of basal liquid water on the evolution of buried glaciers in Mars' mid latitudes was assumed to be negligible because the latter stages of Mars' Amazonian period (3 Ga to present) have long been thought to have been similarly cold and dry to today. Recent identifications of several landforms interpreted as eskers associated with these young (100s Ma) glaciers calls this assumption into doubt. They indicate basal melting (at least locally and transiently) of their parent glaciers. Although rare, they demonstrate a more complex mid-to-late Amazonian environment than was previously understood. Here, we discuss several open questions posed by the existence of glacier-linked eskers on Mars, including on their global-scale abundance and distribution, the drivers and dynamics of melting and drainage, and the fate of meltwater upon reaching the ice margin. Such questions provide rich opportunities for collaboration between the Mars and Earth cryosphere research communities.
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