Rocky 7 prototype Mars rover field geology experiments - 1. Lavic Lake andSunshine Volcanic Field, California

Experiments with the Rocky 7 rover were performed in the Mojave Desert to b etter understand how to conduct rover-based, long-distance (kilometers) geo logical traverses on Mars, The rover was equipped with stereo imaging syste ms for remote sensing science and hazard avoidance and Fe-57 Mossbauer and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers for in situ determination of miner alogy of unprepared rock and soil surfaces. Laboratory data were also obtai ned using the spectrometers and an X ray diffraction (XRD)/XRF instrument f or unprepared samples collected from the rover sites. Simulated orbital and descent image data assembled for the test sites were found to be critical for assessing the geologic setting, formulating hypotheses to be tested wit h rover observations, planning traverses, locating the rover, and providing a regional context for interpretation of rover-based observations. Analyse s of remote sensing and in situ observations acquired by the rover confirme d inferences made from orbital and simulated descent images that the Sunshi ne Volcanic Field is composed of basalt flows. Rover data confirmed the ide a that Lavic Lake is a recharge playa and that an alluvial fan composed of sediments with felsic compositions has prograded onto the playa. Rover-base d discoveries include the inference that the basalt flows are mantled with aeolian sediment and covered with a dense pavement of varnished basalt cobb les. Results demonstrate that the combination of rover remote sensing and i n situ analytical observations will significantly increase our understandin g of Mars and provide key connecting links between orbital and descent data and analyses of returned samples.