Mars and the Mojave Festival
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