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  2. Death Valley

Mars and the Mojave Festival

Mars and the Mojave Festival, March 9 -11, 2012. Featuring scientist and National Park Service interpreter guided field trips to analog sites, evening keynote speakers and panels, star-gazing, and an expo including mini-rover demonstrations and a 1/10th-scale model of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover. Co-sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center, the Death Valley National Park, the SAM Team at NASA Goddard, and the SETI Institute. Lucinda Land, Executive Director of the Mars Society, will be in attendance on behalf of the organization. NASA festival information Program photo credits for this photo - Steve Hall, Mars Hill and NASA.
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Mars Hill has been used to test engineering solutions to entry, descent, landing and trafficability problems of scientific craft bound for the planet Mars. In practice, this means that the rocks on the surface of Mars Hill are comparable in size, shape and abundance to those at the two Mars landing sites. Mars Hill and some of the Mars landing sites, particularly during the Viking 1 and Pathfinder missions, share a similar geologic origin. For instance, the evolution of alluvial fans in windy environments, like Death Valley, has produced a very good analog to the surface roughness of the Mars landing sites. Examples of alluvial fans, desert pavement, ventifacts and sand tails almost identical to those on Mars will be examined as field trip participants explore Mars Hill.
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Mars Hill has been used to test engineering solutions to entry, descent, landing and trafficability problems of scientific craft bound for the planet Mars. In practice, this means that the rocks on the surface of Mars Hill are comparable in size, shape and abundance to those at the two Mars landing sites. Mars Hill and some of the Mars landing sites, particularly during the Viking 1 and Pathfinder missions, share a similar geologic origin. For instance, the evolution of alluvial fans in windy environments, like Death Valley, has produced a very good analog to the surface roughness of the Mars landing sites. Examples of alluvial fans, desert pavement, ventifacts and sand tails almost identical to those on Mars will be examined as field trip participants explore Mars Hill.

NASAMARSSETISAMMARS ANALOGmars hilluniverseroverrosalba bonaccorsisusanne douoglasandrea joneschris mckaytyler nordgrenaaron zentstephanie kyriazisnasa goddardnasa amesseti institutebadwaterubehebedeath Valleyresearchplanetsastronomy

  • <a href="http://www.seti.org/mars-mojave-festival-2012" target="_blank">Mars and the Mojave Festival</a>, March 9 -11, 2012. Featuring scientist and National Park Service interpreter guided field trips to analog sites, evening keynote speakers and panels, star-gazing, and an expo including mini-rover demonstrations and a 1/10th-scale model of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover. Co-sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center, the Death Valley National Park, the SAM Team at NASA Goddard, and the SETI Institute. Lucinda Land, Executive Director of the Mars Society, will be in attendance on behalf of the organization. <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/events/2012/03-09-2012_mars-and-the-mojave.html" target="_blank">NASA festival information</a> Program photo credits for this photo - Steve Hall, Mars Hill and NASA.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas, (right).<br /> <br /> Many areas of Death Valley have groundwater springs which rise at the edges of the salt pan. The resulting salts which form are called evaporites and these evaporites are inhabited by a variety of different microbial communities. Within these evaporites, the communities find protection from harsh light and fluctuating water levels and, in turn, affect the mineralogy of the salts they inhabit. These mineral-dwelling microbial communities are analogues for possible life forms in the evaporites of Mars, and are being studied in order to define what needs life has in an evaporate environment. We will be touring a number of pools at Badwater. These pools are within hundreds of meters of each other yet have differing chemical compositions. We will see different types of microbial communities in these pools and the minerals they produce. If you have a magnifying glass, you may wish to bring it. We will be traversing some rough, but flat ground and handling samples that will dry your hands.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas and Death Valley National Park Education Specialist Stephanie Kyriazis.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas, (left).
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas, (far left).
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas, (left).
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater. Dr. Rosalba Bonaccorsi showing sample.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas. Her main research area at present is Death Valley National Park, where she holds an active research permit and conducts investigations of microbe-mineral interrelationships. Dr. Douglas has a Ph. D. in Geomicrobiology from the University of Guelph in Canada.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas and Death Valley National Park Education Specialist Stephanie Kyriazis.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Badwater with Dr. Susanne Douglas.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Mars Hill with Dr. Aaron Zent (left). Dr. Zent received his Ph. D. in Geology from the University of Hawaii in 1988, and has been at NASA Ames ever since. He has been involved with several Mars missions, most recently the 2008 Phoenix lander. His research focuses on the physical and chemical interactions between planetary atmospheres and their surfaces.
  • Mars Hill has been used to test engineering solutions to entry, descent, landing and trafficability problems of scientific craft bound for the planet Mars. In practice, this means that the rocks on the surface of Mars Hill are comparable in size, shape and abundance to those at the two Mars landing sites. Mars Hill and some of the Mars landing sites, particularly during the Viking 1 and Pathfinder missions, share a similar geologic origin. For instance, the evolution of alluvial fans in windy environments, like Death Valley, has produced a very good analog to the surface roughness of the Mars landing sites. Examples of alluvial fans, desert pavement, ventifacts and sand tails almost identical to those on Mars will be examined as field trip participants explore Mars Hill.
  • Field trip to Mars analog site of Mars Hill with Dr. Aaron Zent (left).
  • Mars Hill.
  • Expo: Booths from NASA and other organizations, Furnace Creek Visitor Center.
  • Expo: Booths from NASA and other organizations, featuring:<br /> <br /> Mini-Rover Demonstrations<br /> <br /> Booths in display from the following organizations:<br /> <br /> NASA Ames Research Center<br /> The Mars Society<br /> SETI Institute/ Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe<br /> NASA Astrobiology Institute/DRI<br /> MSL/SAM at NASA Goddard<br /> JPL/Mars Public Engagement<br /> Planetary Science Institute<br /> International Dark-Sky Association
  • Expo: Booths from NASA and other organizations.
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