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DN-001 M: Geotechnical properties of Mars regolith, rocks, and bedrock at diverse geographic locations

The Mars counterpart of DN-008 L, extended to rock and bedrock: physical and mechanical properties to at least 1 m depth across distinct regions, plus bedrock fracturing and "suitability for landing". Current data comes from rover tools and instruments, orbital thermal spectra and rover-track images, and "Limited data exists on particle size distribution". Without Mars samples, plume effects on the surface are uncertain, and uncertainty means extra mass for robustness. No source ties it to the Moon Base (Data gaps spreadsheet, DN-001 M).

Quotations below are from row DN-001 M of the data gaps spreadsheet. ADD Rev C's Appendix E prints the same record as a table, and it matches the row field for field (ADD Rev C, p. 284).

Description

"Characterize Martian regolith physical and mechanical properties as a function of depth (min depth extent: 1 meter), area, and terrain slope/features, to understand regolith properties and their variability across distinct regions. Characterize the rock and bedrock physical and mechanical properties, fracturing, and suitability for landing across distinct regions."

Need driver and data type

  • Need driver: Mars Surface Natural Environment Characterization
  • Data type: In Situ Measurement

Target measurement parameters

"Particle and rock size distribution, particle morphology and density, bulk rock density, bedrock spatial fracture frequency, size, and depth, other geotechnical properties including but not limited to porosity, permeability, bulk density, bearing capacity, cohesion. "Fine fraction" of particle size distribution (particles < ~50 microns), variation with depth up to ~3 m. These properties may differ from location to location."

Current state of data

"Rock, regolith and dust properties, as well as rock abrasion data sets, gathered from on-board rover tools and scientific instruments. Rock and regolith properties were estimated from thermal emission spectroscopy data aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Potential data from images of rover tracks to determine bearing capacity and compaction properties. Limited data exists on particle size distribution on the surface of Mars. Dust properties from lander observations."

Impact if data is unavailable

"Limitations in in-situ regolith sampling and characterization increase uncertainty to, for example, analyses for interactions between footpads and regolith, rocket engine blast effects (erosion and ejection of material), etc. Limited datasets and lack of Mars regolith samples result in uncertainty about the stability and behavior of the Martian surface when interacting with a rocket plume. Uncertainty in environmental parameters leads to needing increased robustness, and thus mass, for surface assets."

Benefits if data is available

"Increased confidence in landing, plume-surface interaction, and trafficability analyses, which may increase flexibility and allow more areas and terrain to be considered for mission operations. Constraining the geotechnical characteristics of Martian surface materials, will decrease uncertainty in the landed environment, influencing both the robustness of the landers and areas available for exploration. For example, better constraints on slope stability could arise from regolith strength measurements."

Traceability

  • Objectives: MI-04 M, TH-06 M, TH-07 M, OP-05 LM (codes as printed; the sheet gives no titles). OP-05 LM also appears on lunar gaps DN-008 L, DN-009 L and DN-014 L.
  • Segment: Humans to Mars (H2M): "The M2M segment during which the data is needed, but not necessarily when it is collected" (Data gaps spreadsheet, Key sheet).

Priority

None. The spreadsheet has no priority field. The white paper calls the Rev C list "not a comprehensive or prioritized representation of NASA's data needs" (ACR25 data-gaps white paper, p. 4).

Moon Base relevance

Not established by the sources so far. The Users Guide's data-gap mapping covers lunar gaps only (Users Guide, pp. 12–13).

Sources

Data gaps spreadsheet, DN-001 M · ACR25 data-gaps white paper, p. 4 · Users Guide, pp. 12–13 · ADD Rev C, p. 284