Abstract
The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft landed successfully on Mars and imaged the surface to characterize the surficial geology. Here we report on the geology and subsurface structure of the landing site to aid in situ geophysical investigations. InSight landed in a degraded impact crater in Elysium Planitia on a smooth sandy, granule- and pebble-rich surface with few rocks. Superposed impact craters are common and eolian bedforms are sparse. During landing, pulsed retrorockets modified the surface to reveal a near surface stratigraphy of surficial dust, over thin unconsolidated sand, underlain by a variable thickness duricrust, with poorly sorted, unconsolidated sand with rocks beneath. Impact, eolian, and mass wasting processes have dominantly modified the surface. Surface observations are consistent with expectations made from remote sensing data prior to landing indicating a surface composed of an impact-fragmented regolith overlying basaltic lava flows.
Highlights
The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft landed successfully on Mars and imaged the surface to characterize the surficial geology
InSight landed near the center of the landing ellipse (130 km by 27 km)[2] at 4.502°N, 135.623°E at an elevation of −2613.43 m (Figs. 2 and 3) in the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, MOLA cartographic grid as imaged by the HighResolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)[25]
Based upon the origin and modification of Homestead hollow and adjacent impact craters, slow mass wasting and eolian processes punctuated by impacts are the dominant processes modifying the surface
Summary
The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft landed successfully on Mars and imaged the surface to characterize the surficial geology. Because the lander carries a payload focused primarily on exploring the interior of the planet, the regional setting and subsurface structure of the landing site provides important context for interpreting the scientific results of the mission. Geologic mapping performed as part of the landing site selection process (prior to landing), indicates the plains beneath the lander (Fig. 2) formed from Early Amazonian-Hesperian lava flows that are about 200 m thick[2,3] and are underlain by weaker phyllosilicate bearing sedimentary rocks of likely Noachian age[11]. The physical properties of the shallow subsurface were investigated using a wide variety of imaging and radar data during the landing site selection process[2,17,18] These data indicated that the surface should be composed of dominantly sand (fine sand) with low rock abundance. This impact fragmented, unconsolidated regolith is about 3–18 m thick and overlies coarse breccia that grades into jointed basalt[2,3,18]
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