MARS | Science

Pancam and Microscopic Imager observations of dust on the Spirit Rover: Cleaning events, spectral properties, and aggregates

1Alicia F. Vaughan, 1Jeffrey R. Johnson, 1Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, 2Robert Sullivan, 3Geoffrey A. Landis, 4Walter Goetz and 5Morten B. Madsen

1U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
2Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
3NASA John Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH, 44135, USA
4Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
5Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Mars 5, 129-145, 2010 | doi:10.1555/mars.2010.0005
Submitted: March 15, 2010; Reviewed: May 20, 2010; Revised: August 2, 2010; Accepted: August 5, 2010; Published: December 10, 2010

This work describes dust deposits on the Spirit Rover over 2000 sols through examination of Pancam and Microscopic Imager observations of specific locations on the rover body, including portions of the solar array, Pancam and Mini-TES calibration targets, and the magnets. This data set reveals the three "cleaning events" experienced by Spirit to date, the spectral properties of dust, and the tendency of dust particles to form aggregates 100 um and larger.

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