P33F:
A Persistent Habitable Environment in Gale Crater, Mars: How 5 Years of Exploration with the Curiosity Rover Have Changed Our View of Mars and Its Potential for Life II

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Session ID#: 32239

Session Description:
NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, with its Curiosity rover, is advancing our understanding of the planet’s habitability and the prospects for detecting signs of ancient life through its multi-disciplinary investigations. Geological, chemical, and mineralogical investigations of the rock record indicate that water persisted for millions of years in fluvial, lacustrine, and groundwater systems. Isotopic studies of the atmosphere and water evolved from ancient authigenic clay minerals provide new constraints on atmospheric evolution, including key greenhouse gases. Detections of organic molecules indicate their long-term preservation; measurements of radiation combined with surface exposure ages suggest that modern aeolian erosion is exhuming materials that can be investigated for biosignatures with reduced degradation relative to other surface materials. Records of atmospheric composition (including methane), meteorology, and radiation exceed two Mars years and will aid in planning human exploration. This session will integrate this knowledge with other missions and assess how it informs exploration strategies.
Primary Convener:  Ashwin R Vasavada, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States and Mars Science Laboratory Science Team
Convener:  Michael A Meyer, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, United States and Mars Science Laboratory Science Team
Chairs:  Michael A Meyer, NASA HQ, Washington, DC, United States, Ashwin R Vasavada, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States and Mars Science Laboratory Science Team
OSPA Liaison:  Ashwin R Vasavada, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States and Mars Science Laboratory Science Team
Index Terms:

5215 Origin of life [PLANETARY SCIENCES: ASTROBIOLOGY]
5455 Origin and evolution [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS]
5470 Surface materials and properties [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS]
6225 Mars [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Paleo-environmental Setting of the Murray Formation of Aeolis Mons, Gale Crater, Mars, as Explored by the Curiosity Rover (293746)
Kevin W Lewis1, Christopher Fedo2, John P Grotzinger3, Sanjeev Gupta4, Nathaniel Stein3, Dr. Frances Rivera-Hernandez, PhD5, Jessica A Watkins3, Steven Banham4, Kenneth S Edgett6, Michelle Elaine Minitti7, Juergen Schieber8, Lauren A Edgar9, Kirsten Siebach10, Kathryn Stack11, Horton E Newsom12, Christopher H House13, Dawn Y Sumner14, Ashwin R Vasavada11 and the MSL Science Team, (1)Johns Hopkins University, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Baltimore, MD, United States, (2)University of Tennessee, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Knoxville, TN, United States, (3)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (4)Imperial College London, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, London, United Kingdom, (5)University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States, (6)Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA, United States, (7)Framework, Silver Spring, MD, United States, (8)Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, United States, (9)USGS, Astrogeology, Flagstaff, United States, (10)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (11)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (12)Univ New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States, (13)Pennsylvania State University, Geosciences and Environmental Systems Institute, University Park, United States, (14)University of California, Davis, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Davis, United States
From lakes to sand seas: a record of early Mars climate change explored in northern Gale crater, Mars (238740)
Steven Banham1, Sanjeev Gupta1, David M Rubin2, Jessica A Watkins3, Kenneth S Edgett4, Dawn Y Sumner5, John P Grotzinger3, Kevin W Lewis6, Lauren A Edgar7, Kathryn Stack8, Mackenzie D Day9, Mathieu G.A. Lapôtre10, Prof. James F Bell III, PhD11, Ryan C. Ewing12, Nathaniel Stein3, Dr. Frances Rivera-Hernandez, PhD13 and Ashwin R Vasavada8, (1)Imperial College London, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, London, United Kingdom, (2)University of California Santa Cruz, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Santa Cruz, CA, United States, (3)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (4)Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA, United States, (5)University of California, Davis, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Davis, United States, (6)Johns Hopkins University, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Baltimore, MD, United States, (7)USGS, Astrogeology, Flagstaff, United States, (8)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (9)University of Texas at Austin, Jackson School of Geoscience, Austin, TX, United States, (10)California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, United States, (11)Arizona State University, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Tempe, United States, (12)Texas A&M University College Station, Department of Geology & Geophysics, College Station, TX, United States, (13)University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States
Curiosity at Vera Rubin Ridge: Testable Hypotheses, First Results, and Implications for Habitability (280343)
Abigail Fraeman1, Candice Bedford2, John Bridges3, Lauren A Edgar4, Craig Hardgrove5, Briony H N Horgan6, Travis Gabriel7, John P Grotzinger8, Sanjeev Gupta9, Jeffrey Roy Johnson10, Elizabeth B Rampe11, Richard V Morris11, Mark R Salvatore12, Susanne P Schwenzer13, Kathryn Stack14, Patrick Claude Pinet15, David M Rubin16, Catherine M Weitz17, Danika F Wellington7, Roger C Wiens18, Amy J Williams19 and Ashwin R Vasavada14, (1)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, United States, (3)University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom, (4)USGS, Astrogeology, Flagstaff, United States, (5)Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States, (6)Purdue University, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, West Lafayette, IN, United States, (7)Arizona State University, Tempe, United States, (8)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (9)Imperial College London, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, London, United Kingdom, (10)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, (11)NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States, (12)Northern Arizona University, Astronomy and Planetary Science, Flagstaff, AZ, United States, (13)Open University, AstrobiologyOU, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, (14)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (15)Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP), Toulouse, France, (16)University of California Santa Cruz, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Santa Cruz, CA, United States, (17)Planetary Science Institute Tucson, Tucson, AZ, United States, (18)CNRS, Paris Cedex 16, France, (19)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
The Bagnold Dunes in Southern Summer: Active Sediment Transport on Mars Observed by the Curiosity rover (295202)
Mariah MacQueen Baker, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States, Mathieu Gaetan Andre Lapotre, Stanford University, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Stanford, CA, United States, Nathan Thomas Bridges, Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, Michelle E Minitti, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States, Claire E Newman, Aeolis Research, Chandler, United States, Bethany L Ehlmann, California Institute of Technology, Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, CA, United States, Ashwin R Vasavada, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, Kenneth S Edgett, Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA, United States and Kevin W Lewis, Johns Hopkins University, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Baltimore, MD, United States
Five Years of Analyses of Volatiles, Isotopes and Organics in Gale Crater Materials (231078)
Amy McAdam1, Paul R Mahaffy2, Slavka C Andrejkovicova1,3, Paul Archer Jr.4, Sushil K Atreya5, Arnaud Buch6, Patrice J Coll7, Pamela Gales Conrad8, Jennifer L Eigenbrode1, Kenneth A Farley9, Gregory Flesch10, Heather B. Franz2, Caroline Freissinet11, Daniel Patrick Glavin12, Joanna Victoria Clark4, Christopher H House13, Christine A Knudson1,14, James M. Lewis1, Charles Malespin2, Peter Martin9, Maëva Millan2,15, Douglas W Ming16, Richard V Morris16, Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez17, Andrew Steele18, Jennifer C Stern19, Roger E Summons20, Brad Sutter21, Cyril Szopa22, Samuel Teinturier1, Melissa G Trainer23, Christopher R Webster10, Greg M Wong24 and The SAM Team, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States, (3)CRESST, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, United States, (4)Jacobs Technology, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States, (5)University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States, (6)LGPM Laboratoire Génie des Procédés et les Matériaux, Châtenay-Malabry, France, (7)LISA, Creteil Cedex, France, (8)Carnegie Institution for Science, Earth and Planets Laboratory, Washington, United States, (9)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (10)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (11)LATMOS Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, Paris Cedex 05, France, (12)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar System Exploration Division, Greenbelt, United States, (13)Pennsylvania State University, Geosciences and Environmental Systems Institute, University Park, United States, (14)CRESST/University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, United States, (15)Georgetown University, Washington, United States, (16)NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States, (17)Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Mexico City, DF, Mexico, (18)Carnegie Science, Earth and Planets Laboratory, Washington, United States, (19)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar System Exploration Division, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (20)MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA, United States, (21)Amentum, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, United States, (22)Université Versailles St-Quentin, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, CNRS, LATMOS Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, Paris, France, (23)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Planetary Environments Laboratory, Greenbelt, United States, (24)Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
Nitrogen and Martian Habitability: Insights from Five Years of Curiosity Measurements (260230)
Jennifer C Stern1, Brad Sutter2, Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez3, Christopher McKay4, Douglas W Ming5, Paul R Mahaffy6, Paul Archer Jr.7, Heather B. Franz8, Caroline Freissinet9, W. Andrew Jackson10, Pamela Gales Conrad11, Daniel Patrick Glavin12, Melissa G Trainer6, Charles Malespin8, Amy McAdam13, Jennifer L Eigenbrode1, Samuel Teinturier1 and Curtis Manning14, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)Amentum, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, United States, (3)Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Mexico City, DF, Mexico, (4)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (5)NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States, (6)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Planetary Environments Laboratory, Greenbelt, United States, (7)Jacobs Technology, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States, (8)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States, (9)LATMOS Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, Paris Cedex 05, France, (10)Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United States, (11)Carnegie Institution for Science, Earth and Planets Laboratory, Washington, United States, (12)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar System Exploration Division, Greenbelt, United States, (13)NASA Goddard SFC, Greenbelt, United States, (14)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffat Field, United States
Mars Methane at Gale Crater Shows Strong Seasonal Cycle: Updated Results from TLS-SAM on Curiosity (213285)
Christopher R Webster1, Paul R Mahaffy2, Sushil K Atreya3, Gregory Flesch1, Charles Malespin2, Christopher McKay4, German Martinez5, John E Moores6, Christina L Smith7, F Javier Martin-Torres8,9, Javier Gomez-Elvira10, María-Paz Zorzano8,11, Michael H Wong3, Melissa G Trainer12, Jennifer L Eigenbrode13, Daniel Patrick Glavin14, Andrew Steele15, Paul Archer Jr.16, Brad Sutter17, Patrice J Coll18, Caroline Freissinet19, Pierre-Yves Meslin20, Alexander Pavlov13, Didier Keymeulen21, Lance E Christensen1, Raina V Gough22, Susanne P Schwenzer23, Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez24, Jorge Pla-García25, Scot CR Rafkin26, Álvaro Vicente-Retortillo3, Henrik Kahanpää27, Daniel Viudez-Moreiras28, Michael D Smith13, Ari-Matti Harri27, Maria Genzer27, Don Hassler29, Mark T Lemmon30, Joy A Crisp1, Richard W Zurek1 and Ashwin R Vasavada31, (1)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (2)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States, (3)University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States, (4)NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (5)University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (6)York University, Earth & Space Science & Engineering, Toronto, ON, Canada, (7)York University, Toronto, ON, Canada, (8)Lulea University of Technology, Lulea, Sweden, (9)Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, Granada, Spain, (10)Payload & Space Science Department. Insituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), Madrid, Spain, (11)Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain, (12)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Planetary Environments Laboratory, Greenbelt, United States, (13)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (14)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar System Exploration Division, Greenbelt, United States, (15)Carnegie Science, Earth and Planets Laboratory, Washington, United States, (16)Jacobs Technology, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, United States, (17)Amentum, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, United States, (18)LISA, Creteil Cedex, France, (19)LATMOS Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, Paris Cedex 05, France, (20)Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP), Toulouse, France, (21)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (22)University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States, (23)Open University, AstrobiologyOU, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, (24)Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Mexico City, DF, Mexico, (25)Centro de Astrobiología, Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain, (26)Southwest Research Institute Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (27)Finnish Meteorological Inst, Helsinki, Finland, (28)Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), BOISE, Spain, (29)Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, United States, (30)Space Science Institute, Boulder, United States, (31)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States
Surface-atmospheric water cycle at Gale crater through multi-year MSL/REMS observations (271557)
Ari-Matti Harri1, Maria Genzer1, Timothy H McConnochie2, Hannu I Savijarvi3, Michael D Smith4, German Martinez5, Manuel de la Torre Juarez6, Robert Michael Haberle7, J Polkko1, Javier Gomez-Elvira8, Nilton O Renno9, Osku Kemppinen10, Mark Paton11, Mark I Richardson12, Claire E Newman12, Tero T Siili13 and Terhi Mäkinen1, (1)Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland, (2)University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, United States, (3)University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, (4)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (5)University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (6)Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, (7)NASA Ames Res Ctr, Moffett Field, CA, United States, (8)Payload & Space Science Department. Insituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), Madrid, Spain, (9)Univ Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States, (10)Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), University of Maryland, College Park, United States, (11)Finnish Meteorological Institute, BOISE, Finland, (12)Aeolis Research, Chandler, United States, (13)Finnish Meteorol. Institute, Helsinki, Finland

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