The Importance of Nested Scales of Observations, Fine Scales

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Caption:

These two images illustrate the value of being able to identify different compositions at very small scales. At left, a mosaic of images from the remote micro-imager of the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity covers a scene about 3.5 inches (about 9 centimeters) across. The image was taken during the 126th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Dec. 14, 2012). ChemCam's ability to zap a target with a laser and analyze the resulting spark identified different compositions in the matrix rock and the lighter-toned veins.

The image at right covers an area about three one-thousandths of one inch (about 75 microns) across in a meteorite from Mars examined on Earth. At this much finer scale, too, the veins have different composition from the matrix around them, as determined using Raman spectroscopy. The color-coding for composition is red for jarosite, green for goethite and blue for clay minerals.

Background Info:

NASA's Mars 2020 rover, as described by the Mars 2020 Science Definition Team, would have capabilities for nested-scale observations and localized composition identification down to microscopic scale. Mars 2020 is a mission concept that NASA announced in late 2012 to re-use the basic engineering of Mars Science Laboratory to send a different rover to Mars, with new objectives and instruments, launching in 2020.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages NASA's Mars Exploration Program for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

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