Papers by Nathalie Cabrol
SAE Technical Paper, Jul 1, 2000
Abstract: The first ever Astronaut-Rover (ASRO) Interaction Field Test was conducted successfully... more Abstract: The first ever Astronaut-Rover (ASRO) Interaction Field Test was conducted successfully on February 22-27, 1999, in Silver Lake, Mojave Desert, California in a representative surface terrain. This test was a joint effort between the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California and the NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas to investigate the interaction between humans and robotic rovers for potential future planetary surface exploration. As prototype advanced planetary surface space suit and rover ...
Journal of Geophysical Research, 2010
Processes, environments, and the energy associated with the transport and deposition of sand at G... more Processes, environments, and the energy associated with the transport and deposition of sand at Gusev Crater are characterized at the microscopic scale through the comparison of statistical moments for particle size and shape distributions. Bivariate and factor analyses define distinct textural groups at 51 sites along the traverse completed by the Spirit rover as it crossed the plains and went into the Columbia Hills. Fine-to-medium sand is ubiquitous in ripples and wind drifts. Most distributions show excess fine material, consistent with a predominance of wind erosion over the last 3.8 billion years. Negative skewness at West Valley is explained by the removal of fine sand during active erosion, or alternatively, by excess accumulation of coarse sand from a local source. The coarse to very coarse sand particles of ripple armors in the basaltic plains have a unique combination of size and shape. Their distribution display significant changes in their statistical moments within the ~400 m that separate the Columbia Memorial Station from Bonneville Crater. Results are consistent with aeolian and/or impact deposition, while the elongated and rounded shape of the grains forming the ripples, as well as their direction of origin, could point to Ma’adim Vallis as a possible source. For smaller particles on the traverse, our findings confirm that aeolian processes have dominated over impact and other processes to produce sands with the observed size and shape patterns across a spectrum of geologic (e.g., ripples and plains soils) and aerographic settings (e.g., wind shadows).
The NASA Ames' Center for Mars Exploration (CMEX) serves to coordinate Mars programmatic research... more The NASA Ames' Center for Mars Exploration (CMEX) serves to coordinate Mars programmatic research at ARC in the sciences, in information technology and in aero-assist and other technologies. Most recently, CMEX has been working with the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition at the University of West Florida to develop a new kind of web browser based on the application of concept maps. These Cmaps, which are demonstrably effective in science teaching, can be used to provide a new kind of information navigation tool that can make web or CD based information more meaningful and more easily navigable. CMEX expects that its 1999 CD-ROM will have this new user interface. CMEX is also engaged with the Mars Surveyor Project Office at JPL in developing an Internet-based source of materials to support the process of selecting landing sites for the next series of Mars landers. This activity -- identifying the most promising sites from which to return samples relevant to the search for evidence of life -- is one that is expected to engage the general public as well as the science community. To make the landing site data easily accessible and meaningful to the public, CMEX is planning to use the IHMC Cmap browser as its user interface.
This paper wants to illustrate the possibility to use a global approach in martian channels resea... more This paper wants to illustrate the possibility to use a global approach in martian channels research. After a complete spatial study and a localisation, comparisons have been done with models of cryosphere on Mars. An evident correlation appeared with a certain group of short channels (20 to 300 km long) and an hypothesis of a relation between these one and sub-cryospheric confined aquifer is submitted.
The origin of channels on Mars and the evidence that they provide for the previous existence of w... more The origin of channels on Mars and the evidence that they provide for the previous existence of water on the planet are discussed. Outflow-type channels are only found in the transition region between the cratered plains and the large plains of chaotic terrain, while the runoff-type channels, resembling more those found on earth, are located throughout the cratered plateau. It is hypothesized that runoff channels, dating from as early as 3.7 billion years ago, could have been formed by the rain and surface flow made posible by a relatively high-pressure primordial atmosphere. Following the disappearance of this atmosphere, water transformed into subsurface ice could have resurfaced under catastrophic conditions such as volcanic activity to form the more recent (0.5-1 billion year old) outflow channels.
categories: the one which, by their morphologies, require the action of free iiquid water (channe... more categories: the one which, by their morphologies, require the action of free iiquid water (channels of probably pluvial origin) and the one which can be explained by the melting of permafrost. Therefore, the precise analysis of the morphologies and of the dates of apparition could clarify the evolution of some
The impact of individual extremes on life, such as UV radiation (UVR), temperatures, and salinity... more The impact of individual extremes on life, such as UV radiation (UVR), temperatures, and salinity is well documented. However, their combined effect in nature is not well-understood while it is a fundamental issue controlling the evolution of habitat sustainability within individual bodies of water. Environmental variables combine in the Bolivian Altiplano to produce some of the highest, least explored and most poorly understood lakes on Earth. Their physical environment of thin atmosphere, high ultraviolet radiation, high daily temperature amplitude, ice, sulfur-rich volcanism, and hydrothermal springs, combined with the changing climate in the Andes and the rapid loss of aqueous habitat provide parallels to ancient Martian lakes at the Noachian/Hesperian transition 3.7-3.5 Ga ago. Documenting this analogy is one of the focuses of the High-Lakes Project (HLP). The geophysical data we collected on three of them located up to 5,916 m elevation suggests that a combination of extreme factors does not necessarily translate into a harsher environment for life. Large and diverse ecosystems adapt to UVR reaching 200%-216% that of sea level in bodies of water sometimes no deeper than 50 cm, massive seasonal freeze-over, and unpredictable daily evolution of UVR and temperature. The HLP project has undertaken the first complete geophysical and biological characterization of these lakes and documents how habitability is sustained and prolonged in declining lakes despite a highly dynamical environment. The same process may have helped life transition through climate crises over time on both Earth and Mars.
It has been demonstrated during the past years that by its configuration, extended history of wat... more It has been demonstrated during the past years that by its configuration, extended history of water ponding and sedimentary deposition, Gusev crater is one of the most favorable sites to consider for the incoming exploration of Mars. It provides exceptional possibilities to document the evolution of water, climate changes, and possibly the evolution of life on Mars through time. Because of all these reasons, it is probably one of the most interesting sites to target for sample return missions and human exploration, but as well, it is by all means an excellent target for the Surveyor '01, in spite of the current imposed mission constraints, as we propose to demonstrate.
Our Survey area comprises the Sinus Sabeus NW quadrangle that includes most of the Schiaparelli c... more Our Survey area comprises the Sinus Sabeus NW quadrangle that includes most of the Schiaparelli crater and part of the Arabia SW region (3 N to 15 S Lat.) and (0 to 337.5 W long.) and covers all regions that show a potential hydrogeological link with the Schiaparelli impact structure. This area is hereafter defined as the Schiaparelli Crater Region. The Schiaparelli crater region is one of the most documented MOC targets. Up to now, MGS MOC camera took two dozen images at an average of 5m/pxl resolution that not only provide an exceptional insight on the local geology and morphology, but give also key-elements to assess landing safety criteria. In addition, the MOLA topographic profile No. 23 passes through part of the crater basin allowing the adjustment of the elevation as previously known from the Viking mission (USGS I-2125, 1991). Beyond the Mars Polar Lander mission that will land next December, the future missions (2001 APEX, 2003, and 2005) are led by a series of science objectives and engineering constraints that must be considered in order to select landing sites that will fulfill the Surveyor Program's objectives. The search for a sound and safe candidate-site (without ending up with the usual "safe but boring" or "fascinating but too risky" site) is usually limited by the data available to the investigator, by the data accuracy (e.g. poor image resolution, poor altimetry), and the lack of crucial information for science and safety that can be derived from them. The Schiaparelli region provides an exception to this recurrent pattern. We listed the preliminary constraints for landing site selection identified for the Surveyor '01 mission, in terms of safety requirements and data needed and compared them against the existing information and/or data already available for the Schiaparelli region. The engineering constraints of '03 and '05 are not designated yet but, since they are also related to atmospheric density and Lander designs, we will assume that these points will be comparable to '01. The main difference will reside in the rover design, the Rocky-7 class rover being bigger than Marie Curie ('01) will be able to overcome bigger obstacles. We listed then the main objectives of the Surveyor Program and compared them with the potential offered by the Schiaparelli Crater Region to document them. Within the survey area, the Schiaparelli impact crater is 2.5 S/343.3 W (USGS 1-1376, MC-20 NW, 1981) and occupies a significant surface area. The crater has been proposed as a potential candidate-site in the past years. The purpose of this study is to show that, not only the Schiaparelli Crater would be a high-priority target, but that the region where it is located offer several very-high potential back-up sites, all within science and engineering constraints, that make this region probably the most promising candidate area so far.
We present design, integration and test results for a field Raman spectrometer science payload, i... more We present design, integration and test results for a field Raman spectrometer science payload, integrated into the Mars Analog Research and Technology (MARTE) drilling platform. During the drilling operation, the subsurface Raman spectroscopy inspection system has obtained signatures of organic and mineral compositions. We also performed ground truth studies using both this field unit and a laboratory micro Raman spectrometer equipped with multiple laser excitation wavelengths on series of field samples including Mojave rocks, Laguna Verde salty sediment and Rio Tinto topsoil. We have evaluated laser excitation conditions and optical probe designs for further improvement. We have demonstrated promising potential for Raman spectroscopy as a non-destructive in situ, high throughput, subsurface detection technique, as well as a desirable active remote sensing tool for future planetary and space missions.
A Rover Mission involves technical constraints which limit the planetary field of investigations ... more A Rover Mission involves technical constraints which limit the planetary field of investigations to specific regions. This paper proposes one candidate-site considering these constraints and the geological interests. These two parameters lead to the evaluation of the scientific productivity of one site analyzing the instrumentation in relationship with site criteria. A candidate-site is proposed in Aeolis Region. A valley between Al'Qahira and Ma'adim Valles is evaluated.
The present paper proposes a systems model to assess the reliability of each operation of a Mars ... more The present paper proposes a systems model to assess the reliability of each operation of a Mars sample retrieval mission in order to obtain the most complete information possible. Instrumentation efficiency is analyzed in accordance with developed landing site criteria. Candidate-sites were tested by this systems approach and they include the principal characteristics of the project's scientific goals and technical constraints.
ABSTRACT The TextureCam project will design a "smart camera" th... more ABSTRACT The TextureCam project will design a "smart camera" that aims to improve scientific return by increasing science autonomy and observation capabilities. An initial test demonstrates automatic recognition of stromatoform structures in outcrop.
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Papers by Nathalie Cabrol