Msl Frost Detection Campaigns
G.M. Martínez, Lunar And Planetary Institute/Usra, Houston, Usa (Gmartinez@Lpi.Usra.Edu), R.V. Gough,
Cires And University Of Colorado, Boulder, Usa, W. Rapin, Irap, Cnrs-Ups, Toulouse, France, P.-Y.
Meslin, Irap, Cnrs-Ups, Toulouse, France, O. Gasnault, Irap, Cnrs-Ups, Toulouse, France, S. Schröder,
Dlr, Berlin, Germany, T.H. Mcconnochie, Space Science Institute, Usa, H. Savijärvi, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland, E. Fischer, University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Usa, S. Guzewich, Nasa Goddard Spaceflight Center, Greenbelt, Usa, C.E. Newman, Aeolis Research, Usa, A. R. Vasavada, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena, Usa, M. De La Torre-Juárez, Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena, Usa, R. Wiens, Purdue University, West Lafayette,
Usa, And N. Lanza, Lanl, Los Alamos, Usa.,
Introduction: We Report Results Of The Frost Detection Campaigns Performed By The Curiosity Rover
During The First 3332 Sols Of The Mars Science Laboratory (Msl) Mission. Also, We Describe The Observational Strategy And Target Selection Of These Campaigns To Support Nasa’S Mars 2020 And Future
Missions In The Search For Frost On Mars.
We Use Environmental Measurements From The
Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (Rems) To
Predict Frost Formation, And Chemcam Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (Libs) To Detect
Enhanced Hydration Levels. Only When Both Instruments Return Positive Results, We Interpret That The
Formation Of Frost Is Likely.
Out Of 14 Campaigns (Table 1), Only On Sol 2548
(Ls ~ 89°) In Martian Year (My) 35 Both Rems And
Chemcam Libs Returned Results Consistent With
Frost Formation. However, We Note That These Results
Were Not Unambiguous, And That Future Lab Studies