The Rover, Barnacle Bill, and Yogi.
Click on image for full size version (140K JPG)
Image from: NASA/JPL
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These are the findings of Mars Pathfinder.
- High Silica Rocks - a result from chemical analysis of the Martian rocks.
- suggestive of differentiated (evolved) rocks and minerals.
- helps establish that, like Earth, Mars experienced mineral separation, evolution, and differentiation of the silica rocks (the same rocks which are important to terrestrial planet formation).
- Rounded Pebbles, Cobbles and possible Conglomerates were found - a result from analysis of the landingsite, the rocks, the soils, and erosion patterns.
- suggestive of fluvial processes over a long time
- suggestive of liquid water in equilibrium with the atmosphere
- suggestive of a warmer & wetter Martian past
- Airborne Dust is Magnetic
- chemical analysis of the dust shows that iron seems to be leached from the crust by an active hydrologic process
- Better Moment of Inertia measurement (the shape of Mars)
- suggests Mars has a large core
- Landing site is as expected
- validates the use of ground-based measurements
- showed a variety of rocks deposited by a catastrophic flood
- questions remain about the deposition conditions, variety, and origin of the rocks
- other remaining questions include: how fast, & where was the Martian water flowing, what was the capacity of the flood?
- Atmosphere
- water ice clouds were found
- dust devils
- predictable local weather
These findings help address questions which remain about Mars.
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