Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) geologists at Arizona State University may have found a hotspot for future NASA Mars missions to concentrate on. Scientists monitoring data from the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) - a geology mapping device on the MGS spacecraft in orbit around Mars - have found evidence of a large deposit of mineral hematite, a rock with implications for the possible development of life.
Phil Christensen, principal investigator for TES, said that coarse-grained hematite originates from thermal activity and/or from bodies of water. Many scientists believe that Mars was once warmer, and the presence of hematite may indicate that abundant water and thermal activity previously existed there.
"The TES results provide the first evidence that suggests a large-scale hydrothermal system may have operated beneath the martian surface at some time during the planet's history," Christensen said. "Even more intriguing is the possibility that the hematite may have initially precipitated from a large body of water. The occurrence of hematite in this single region provides additional evidence that a unique process has occurred. This is one of the best places to look for evidence of life on Mars."
ASU geologists may be able to put research hardware on the hematite deposit during the 2001 Lander mission, when a miniature version of TES will ride aboard the rover. The landing site has yet to be determined, but the ASU discovery makes a good case for a landing near the martian equator.
"The existence and location of these deposits will provide a positive indication that hot water once existed near the martian surface and will provide important information to aid in the selection of future landing sites for exploration and the collection of samples for return to Earth," Christensen said.
The hematite find is believed to cover an area approximately 300 miles in diameter.
The search for hydrothermal deposits and other indicators of water at the surface are prime objectives of the TES mission. Christensen reported the hematite find today in a lecture at the American Geophysical Union spring conference in Boston.