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DN-006 M: In situ measurement of landing site alteration imaging at small scale on Mars

The Mars counterpart of DN-018 L: landing-site topography before, during and after plume-surface interaction "at cm scale or better" (the lunar gap asks for cm-m), plus regolith properties and chemical contamination of the affected area. Today there are flight reconstructions of erosion by InSight and Phoenix, and the MSL and Mars 2020 descent videos could be analyzed. No source ties it to the Moon Base (Data gaps spreadsheet, DN-006 M).

Quotations below are from row DN-006 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. 289).

Description

"Measure landing site alteration caused by rocket exhaust plumes interacting with the Martian surface. During final descent and landing, rocket exhaust may erode material which changes surface topography or alters surface properties. This has the potential to create a hazardous landing environment or affect scientific outcomes."

Need driver and data type

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

Target measurement parameters

"Measurement of landing site topography before, during, and after vehicle plume-surface interactions at cm scale or better. Measurement of regolith geotechnical properties in the affected area. Measurement of chemical contamination of the area affected by the exhaust plume."

Current state of data

"Flight reconstructions of erosion caused by InSight and Mars Phoenix. Analysis of MSL and Mars2020 descent videos could be performed to determine surface alteration at some level of uncertainty."

Impact if data is unavailable

"Increased uncertainty in risk to landing vehicle caused by surface alteration. Increased uncertainty to scientific operations near the landing site if regolith alteration or contamination is not well understood."

Benefits if data is available

"Increased confidence in analyses of surface alteration during final descent and landing. Informs vehicle design and operational mitigations. Informs scientific community regarding experiment placement and operations."

Traceability

  • Objectives: SE-07 LM, TH-06 M, TH-07 M (codes as printed; the sheet gives no titles). SE-07 LM also appears on the lunar PSI gaps DN-017 L and DN-018 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-006 M · ACR25 data-gaps white paper, p. 4 · Users Guide, pp. 12–13 · ADD Rev C, p. 289 · Mars EDL Challenges (2024), pp. 3–4