Assessment of Mars Science and Mission Priorities (2003) / Chapter Skim
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11. Rationale for Sample Return
11. Rationale for Sample Return
Pages 83-88
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From page 83... ...
These meteorites represent, however, a highly selected subset of martian materials, specifically, very coherent rocks of largely igneous origin from a small number of sources. The samples that could provide the most information about martian climate history are something different namely, sediments and soil samples (SNC meteorites represent the other end of the rock spectrum)
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From page 84... ...
Learning about the past climate on Mars is another important objective of Mars science, and returned samples offer the best way to understand an important product of past climates. Ultimately it may be possible to return ice cores from the martian poles that directly address the planet's climate history, but even the first samples collected will contain information about the climate in the layer of weathering products that one expects to find on rock samples.
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From page 85... ...
The carbonaceous chondrites, interplanetary dust particles, and probably other bodies within the solar system contain abundant organic material that is structurally similar to biological products. Definitive resolution of the differences between biotic and abiotic organic molecules requires highly sophisticated techniques well beyond any that could be managed robotically.
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From page 86... ...
86 ASSESSMENT OF MARS SCIENCE AND MISSION PRIORITIES FIGURE 11.1 Fossilized stromatolites (age, 500 million years) in Saratoga Springs, New York.
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From page 87... ...
Even a grab-sample of soil from a randomly chosen site on the planet will reveal the character of martian surface material: its chemistry, oxidation state, content of organic materials, mineralogy, and the history of weathering reactions that has affected it. Also, the properties of the ubiquitous martian dust will be determined, information that will allow corrections to be applied to the data sets of past and future robotic orbital and lander missions.
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From page 88... ...
J.W. Schopf, Cradle of Life: The Discovery of Earth's Earliest Fossils, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1999.
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