Iterative Science Strategy on Analog Geophysical EVAs

Brian Shiro, University of North Dakota Carol Stoker, NASA Ames Research Center
brian.shiro@gmail.com carol.r.stoker@nasa.gov

Mars Desert Research Station mission planner

sledge hammer seismic source

R ca rt
c lo se up of t h e G P
n d st re a mer
s e is m i c l a
h e G PR s led
p u l l i n g t wide view of Kissing Camel Range p l a n s e is m p u ll i n g t h e s
i c s u r vey t eis m ic la n d
Kissing Camel Ridge G PR s led m atc h G PR o st re a m e r p u ll in g t h e G PR
ca rt
seismograph

EVA Log
& controller
seismic source
(hammer)
receivers (geophones)

surface waves
body waves

Summary
how it works
Kissing Camel Range is a 100m
high arcing structure that inter-
Crew 83 @Nov 2009
Study Area sects with the Cretaceous Dakota
sandstone-capped ridgeline called
Goal - CRUX GPR Field Testing 1 Radio Ridge. It is elevated due to
a cap rock that is gravel cemented
We carried out a series of ground-penetrating radar
Nov 20 - Carol and Josh profile center by silica and therefore harder than
(GPR) and active seismic experiments at the Mars Desert
38.4oN, 110.8oW
Collected Track 7 data up on Radio Ridge where Kissing the surrounding Jurassic era Morri-
Research Station (MDRS) in southeastern Utah in order son Formation deposits.. We hy-
to better understand the approach to conducting subsur- Camel Range intersects with the ridge. See a reflector
pothesize that Kissing Camel ex-
face studies on the Moon and Mars via astronauts. on the northern edge of the profile. Perhaps the ridge GPR Track 7 tends subsurface beyond the inter-
is a buried paleochannel. 20 section.
During November 2009, a crew led by Stoker collected 20

exploratory ground penetrating radar (GPR) data using
the miniature CRUX (Construction and Resource Utiliza-
tion Explorer) prototype instrument and discovered a
possible channel deposit.1
In January-February 2010, a subsequent crew led by
Shiro conducted an active seismic survey along a 109-
Nov 26 - Josh and Carol
Collected Track 15 data along a profile closer to the edge
of the ridge, but the reflector still only shows up on the Kissing Camel
northernmost edge of the track. No time left in the Range
mission to return for further investigation.
HAROZ

meter profile to further investigate the feature using 12

F F

MO
TA
M
GS

RA

Crew 89 @Jan-Feb 2010

DRS
WA

vertical geophones mounted on a land streamer that was

N

GPR Track 15
N
LXX

SO
SH

towed behind a rover.2

XI
RT
IRO

X
CREW
BE
RO

SARAIVA

Goal - Active Seismic Survey 2 26

Later in March 2010, another crew collected a complete 26

GPR transect along the exact profile as the seismic

Jan 30 - Brian and Luis (15:57-18:07)Þ
Radio Ridge
study. Combined, the GPR and seismic data provide a
more complete picture of the subsurface structure than Scouted the route up to Radio Ridge in the snow and Distance (ft)

either method alone can provide. took GPS waypoints of the proposed survey. We had to
120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360
0

20

deviate from the GPR Track 7 and 15 lines to find a 40

60

The evolution of planning experiments in this sequence flatter surface for towing the land streamer. 80
Time (ms)

illustrates the utility of building flexibility in missions so

100

120

that crews can modify subsequent experiments based on 140

Feb 3 - Brian, Darrel, Luis (13:07-17:26) 160

results collected in previous ones. We recommend crews 180

Hauled seismic equipment up to Radio Ridge, staked out 200

employ such a strategy when exploring the Moon and

Acknowledgements
220

Mars. the survey shot points and geophone positions at 5-foot 240

intervals for a 145-meter total nominal profile. Took first Seismic Shot Gather
shot gather data set and moved geophone spread to next
position. Laptop fell off the ATV, and the ethernet connector

About MDRS was damaged. Have to return to the Hab and fix it tonight.
15
5
0 50 100 150 200
Time (msec)
250 300 350 400 450 500 550

1600
0 5 10
Frequency (Hz)
15 20 25 30 35 40

This work was supported in part by the NASA

Feb 4 - Brian, Luis, Kiri (12:40-18:45)
1400
Phase velocity (ft/sec)

25
35 1200
Spaceword Bound program.
Distance (ft)

45

Lost data from yesterday when the computer dropped so have

1000
55
65 800
75

to start over. Conducted the active seismic survey consisting

600
85
95
400 GPR equipment provided by: 1

The Mars Desert Research

105

of 6 geophone spreads with 12 geophones at 5-ft spacing on a

200

& Ulmer Systems, Inc.

115
0

Station (MDRS) is a simulated towed land streamer. We used a sledgehammer as the source
CMP gather (left) and dispersion curve fit (right) examples

Mars surface habitat built by Distance (ft)

Seismic equipment provided by: 2
for the 36 shots with 3x stacking at each of the 17 shot 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

The Mars Society in the

0

locations across the 109-meter profile. Vp analysis problematic, seismic results ? Vs

remote Utah desert. Since it's 10
500

founding in 2002, MDRS has but MASW inversion shows Vs velocity profile and the possible 329
Depth (ft)

20
SeisImager/2DTM analysis support provided by: 3
hosted over 500 people on buried inverted channel.3 30
238
165

100 crews and served as an 116

2D MASW inversion
40

effective testbed for field operations studies. Crews are 76

diverse ranging from students to seasoned researchers
from all over the world. Areas of study have included
field exploration strategies, tools, technologies, and crew
selection protocols to help optimize the productive explo-
ration of Mars by humans.
50 40
Other seismic survey advice provided by:
Crew 92 @March 2010 (m/sec)
Jim Hasbrouck (Hasbrouck Geophysics),
Rob Stewart (U. of Houston), Chris Gifford
Goal - Take new GPR track along full seismic profile 0 Distance (m) 109 (JHU-APL), and Drew Feustel (NASA).
Mar 16 - Carol, Jon, Lindsay Special thanks to everyone on the MDRS 83, 89,
Collected GPR Track 3 data S-N and Track 4 N-S along the and 92 Crews and to the Mars Society Mission
same waypoints as the Crew 89 seismic profile. Track 4 data Support team of volunteers.

FYI
Inverted river channels on Earth
preserve fossilized life and organic
is noisier than the Track 3 data but shows the same reflectors.
The reflectors seem to correlate to structure seen with the GPR Track 3
References
1. CRUX GPR background:
- Kim, et al. (2006) IEEEAC Paper #1365.
seismic study. We used the new wheeled GPR cart, and it was
2. land streamer background:
much easier than the old sled we pulled on Crew 83. - van der Veen, et al. (2001) Geophysics, 66: 482-500.
3. MASW technique:
We found a concretion-rich deposit on the northern flank of - Park, et al. (1999) Geophysics, 64: 800-808.
This work previously presented in part by:
Kissing Camel near its intersection with Radio Ridge. These - Shiro, et al. (2010) LPSC, Abstract #2052.
deposits are found in other Morrison Formation channel fills in - Stoker, et al. (2010) LPSC, Abstract #2697.
concretions hand sample

material. They have been indenti- the area. Evidence that Kissing Camel is an inverted channel.
fied on Mars too, such as this ex-
ample at Miyamoto Crater (HiRISE
image PSP_009985_1770).

concretions closeup