Planetary boundary layer and circulation dynamics at Gale Crater, Mars

The Mars implementation of the Planet Weather Research and Forecasting (PlanetWRF) model, MarsWRF, is used here to simulate the atmospheric conditions at Gale Crater for different seasons during a period coincident with the Curiosity rover operations. The model is first evaluated with the existing single-point observations from the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), and is then used to provide a larger scale interpretation of these unique measurements as well as to give complementary information where there are gaps in the measurements. The variability of the planetary boundary layer depth may be a driver of the changes in the local dust and trace gas content within the crater. Our results show that the average time when the PBL height is deeper than the crater rim increases and decreases with the same rate and pattern as Curiosity's observations of the line-of-sight of dust within the crater and that the season when maximal (minimal) mixing is produced is Ls 225°–315° (Ls 90°–110°). Thus the diurnal and seasonal variability of the PBL depth seems to be the driver of the changes in the local dust content within the crater. A comparison with the available methane measurements suggests that changes in the PBL depth may also be one of the factors that accounts for the observed variability, with the model results pointing towards a local source to the north of the MSL site. The interaction between regional and local flows at Gale Crater is also investigated assuming that the meridional wind, the dynamically important component of the horizontal wind at Gale, anomalies with respect to the daily mean can be approximated by a sinusoidal function as they typically oscillate between positive (south to north) and negative (north to south) values that correspond to upslope/downslope or downslope/upslope regimes along the crater rim and Mount Sharp slopes and the dichotomy boundary. The smallest magnitudes are found in the northern crater floor in a region that comprises Bradbury Landing, in particular at Ls 90° when they are less than 1 m s−1, indicating very little lateral mixing with outside air. The largest amplitudes occur in the south-western portions of the crater where they can exceed 20 m s−1. Should the slope flows along the crater rims interact with the dichotomy boundary flow, which is more likely at Ls 270° and very unlikely at Ls 90°, they are likely to interact constructively for a few hours from late evening to nighttime (∼17–23 LMST) and from pre-dawn to early morning (∼5–11 LMST) hours at the norther crater rim and destructively at night (∼22–23 LMST) and in the morning (∼10–11 LMST) at the southern crater rim. We conclude that a better understanding of the PBL and circulation dynamics has important implications for the variability of the concentration of dust, non-condensable and trace gases at the bottom of other craters on Mars as mixing with outside air can be achieved vertically, through changes in the PBL depth, and laterally, by the transport of air into and out of the crater

Convective Heat Transfer at the Martian Boundary Layer, Measurement and Model

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Brine-Induced Tribocorrosion Accelerates Wear on Stainless Steel : Implications for Mars Exploration

Acknowledgments The authors thank the ExoMars Project Team, European Space Agency (ESA), for reviewing the manuscript. The SpaceQ chamber has been developed in collaboration with Kurt J. Lesker Company and was funded by the Kempe Foundation. MPZ’s contribution has been partially supported by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI), Project No. MDM-2017-0737, Unidad de Excelencia “Maria de Maeztu”–Centro de Astrobiologia (CSIC-INTA).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Quantifying the Congruence between Air and Land Surface Temperatures for Various Climatic and Elevation Zones of Western Himalaya

The authors would like to acknowledge National Snow and Ice Data Centre, USA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA for providing freely available MODIS satellite products and Global Historical Climatology Network station data, respectively. The authors are also grateful to India Meteorology Department (IMD), India, Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB), India and Hendrik Wulf, University of Zurich, Switzerland for providing the station data. A.B. acknowledges the Swedish Research Council for supporting his research in Himalaya. M.S. acknowledges Director, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences and Birbal Sahni Research Associate fellowship.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Abiotic Input of Fixed Nitrogen by Bolide Impacts to Gale Crater During the Hesperian : Insights From the Mars Science Laboratory

We acknowledge the NASA Mars Science Laboratory Program, Centre National d'Études Spatiales, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (PAPIIT IN109416, IN111619, and PAPIME PE103216), and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de México (CONACyT 220626) for their support. We thank Fred Calef for constructing Figure 4 and appreciate the interest and support received from John P. Grotzinger and Joy A. Crisp throughout the Curiosity mission. The authors are grateful to the SAM and MSL teams for successful operation of the SAM instrument and the Curiosity rover. The data used in this paper are listed in the supporting information, figures, and references. SAM Data contained in this paper are publicly available through the NASA Planetary Data System at http://pds‐geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/msl/sam.htm. We would like to express gratitude to Pierre‐Yves Meslin from the Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology at Toulouse, France, and five anonymous reviewers whose comments/suggestions on earlier drafts helped improve and clarify this manuscript. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Infinite Learning Chain. Flipped Professional Labs for Learning and Knowledge Co-Creation

Nowadays universities and other classical research institutions are changing their role in knowledge creation. In general terms we can characterize this transition as the path from “Closed Science” to “Open Science” as a part of a deeper and structural phenomenon known as “knowledge democratization”, where different stakeholders as students, makers and other tech and science enthusiasts are able to create knowledge learning from the researchers and cooperating with them

The COSPAR Planetary Protection Requirements for Space Missions to Mars

International audienc

The COSPAR Planetary Protection Requirements for Space Missions to Mars

International audienc

The COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection Role, Structure and Activities

International audienceThe exploration and use of outer space is the province of all humankind. This principle in Article I of the UN Outer Space Treaty guarantees the freedom to explore outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, without discrimination, and to carry out scientific investigations. This freedom, however, comes with a responsibility described in Article IX of the same Treaty. It states that space activities have to be conducted with due regard to the corresponding interests of all other States Parties to the Treaty. The avoidance of potentially harmful interference with activities of other States Parties is central. The harmful contamination of the Moon and other celestial bodies and the need to ensure safety of the Earth are highlighted in this context. With the entry into force of the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, planetary protection became part of international law. In observance of those treaty obligations, an international standard for planetary protection has been developed by theCommittee on Space Research (COSPAR) which provides a forum for international consultation and has formulated a Planetary Protection Policy with associated requirements that are put in place after examination of the most updated relevant scientific studies and recommendations made by the COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection

Planetary Protection: an international concern and responsibility

Planetary Protection is at the heart of space exploration. The international standard for planetary protection has been developed by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) which provides a forum for international consultation and has formulated a Planetary Protection Policy with associated requirements. The COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection (PPP) is a large international committee comprising agency representatives, scientists and space experts. It maintains and updates the COSPAR Policy and its associated requirements (https://cosparhq.cnes.fr/scientific-structure/panels/panel-on-planetary-protection-ppp/). The Policy and its associated requirements is the only internationally agreed planetary protection standard with implementation guidelines for reference in compliance with Article IX of the United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967. The Policy is updated as needed in the face of new scientific findings