Aeolis Palus is a

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

between the northern wall of

Gale crater Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur a ...

and the northern

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

Aeolis Mons Mount Sharp, officially Aeolis Mons (), is a mountain on Mars. It forms the central peak within Gale crater and is located around , rising high from the valley floor. Its ID in the United States Geological Survey's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenc ...

(Mount Sharp) on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

. It is located at . The NASA

Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale (crater), Gale Crater on Augus ...

mission landed the ''Curiosity'' rover on Aeolis Palus in August 2012. ''Curiosity'' spent two (Earth) years exploring the plain as it drove towards Aeolis Mons. The rover left the plain in September 2014 when it reached the mountain's foothills.

Spacecraft exploration

On August 5, 2012, at 10:32 p.m. PDT/mission time (August 6, 2012, at 5:32 UTC), mission control at JPL received a signal from the NASA ''Curiosity'' rover that it had successfully landed in "Yellowknife" ''Quad 51'' of ''Aeolis Palus''. The rover's mission is to explore the surface area of Gale Crater focusing first near its landing site on ''Aeolis Palus'' and then venturing into the nearby foothills of

(unofficially, "Mount Sharp") to investigate its geological features and strata. On September 26, 2013, NASA scientists reported the

''Curiosity'' rover detected "abundant, easily accessible"

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

(1.5 to 3 weight percent) in soil samples at the Rocknest region of ''Aeolis Palus'' in

Gale Crater Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur a ...

. In addition, NASA reported the rover found two principal soil types: a fine-grained mafic type and a locally derived, coarse-grained felsic type. The mafic type, similar to other martian soils and martian dust, was associated with hydration of the amorphous phases of the soil. Also, perchlorates, the presence of which may make detection of life-related organic molecules difficult, were found at the ''Curiosity'' rover landing site (and earlier at the more polar site of the Phoenix lander) suggesting a "global distribution of these salts". NASA also reported that Jake M rock, a rock encountered by ''Curiosity'' on the way to Glenelg, was a

mugearite Mugearite () is a type of oligoclase-bearing basalt, comprising olivine, apatite, and opaque oxides. The main feldspar in mugearite is oligoclase. Mugearite is a sodium-rich member of the alkaline magma series. In the TAS classification of volc ...

and very similar to terrestrial mugearite rocks. On December 9, 2013, NASA reported that, based on evidence from ''Curiosity'' studying Aeolis Palus,

contained an ancient freshwater lake which could have been a hospitable environment for

microbial life A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...

. On December 16, 2014, NASA reported detecting, based on measurements by the ''Curiosity'' rover, an unusual increase, then decrease, in the amounts of

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

in the

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

of the planet

; in addition,

organic chemical Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a Carbon–hydrogen bond, carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. F ...

s were detected in powder drilled from a rock by the ''Curiosity'' rover. Also, based on

deuterium Deuterium (hydrogen-2, symbol H or D, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen; the other is protium, or hydrogen-1, H. The deuterium nucleus (deuteron) contains one proton and one neutron, whereas the far more c ...

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

ratio studies, much of the

on Mars was found to have been lost during ancient times, before the lakebed in the crater was formed; afterwards, large amounts of water continued to be lost.

Bradbury Landing

"Bradbury Landing" is a named location on ''Aeolis Palus''. It is where the ''Curiosity'' rover landed. The coordinates of the landing site are: . The landing site location was named for science fiction author

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

. NASA announced the name on Bradbury's 92nd birthday, August 22, in honor of the author who died a few months earlier on June 5, 2012. Michael Meyer, NASA program scientist for ''Curiosity'', said "This was not a difficult choice for the science team. Many of us and millions of other readers were inspired in our lives by stories Ray Bradbury wrote to dream of the possibility of life on Mars." Bradbury wrote a collection of stories called ''

The Martian Chronicles ''The Martian Chronicles'' is a science fiction fix-up novel, published in 1950, by American writer Ray Bradbury that chronicles the exploration and settlement of Mars, the home of indigenous Martians, by Americans leaving a troubled Earth tha ...

'' in the 1940s. The ''Curiosity'' team left a message on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

"In tribute, I dedicate my landing spot on Mars to you, Ray Bradbury. Greetings from Bradbury Landing!" NASA released a video of Bradbury reading his poem "If Only We Had Taller Been".

Images

Image:Mars Curiosity video msl20120810.ogv, ''Curiosity'' rover landing site in ''Aeolis Palus'' and surroundings — first 360 color panorama (August 8/10vid, 2012). Image:Ray Bradbury at Caltech 12 November 1971.ogv, In honor of the naming of Bradbury Landing, NASA released a video of

reading his poem, "If Only We Had Taller Been". Image:PIA19674-Mars-GaleCrater-SurfaceMaterials-20150619.jpg, Gale crater - surface materials (false colors;

THEMIS In Greek mythology and religion, Themis (; ) is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, law, and custom. She is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is associated with oracles a ...

; 2001 Mars Odyssey). Image:Curiosity Cradled by Gale Crater.jpg,

rises from the middle of

- Green dot marks the ''Curiosity'' rover landing site in ''Aeolis Palus''. Image:Mars Science Laboratory landing ellipse reduced.jpg,

- Landing site is within ''Aeolis Palus'' near Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp") - North is down. Image:PIA19080-MarsRoverCuriosity-AncientGaleLake-Simulated-20141208.jpg, Ancient Lake fills Gale Crater on Mars (simulated view). Image:PIA17596-MarsCuriosityRover-AncientLake-20131209.jpg, Ancient Lake on ''Aeolis Palus'' in

- possible size (December 9, 2013). Image:PIA16064-Mars Curiosity Rover Treasure Map.jpg, ''Curiosity'' rover landing site (green dot) - Blue dot marks Glenelg Intrigue - Blue spot marks "Base of Mount Sharp" - a planned area of study. Image:Curiosity Rover Landing Site - Quadmapping Yellowknife.jpg, ''Curiosity'' rover landing site - " Quad Map" includes "Yellowknife" ''Quad 51'' of ''Aeolis Palus'' in

. Image:Mars Curiosity Rover - Yellowknife Landing Site.jpg, ''Curiosity'' rover landing site - "Yellowknife" '' Quad 51'' (1-mi-by-1-mi) of ''Aeolis Palus'' in

. Image:PIA15696-HiRISE-MSL-Sol11 2 -br2.jpg, MSL debris field viewed by

HiRISE High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the '' Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' which has been orbiting and studying Mars since 2006. The 65 kg (143 lb), US$40 million instrument was built under the direction ...

on August 17, 2012 - parachute is from the rover.Mars Science Laboratory: Multimedia-Images
/ref> (3-D
rover
and
parachute
Image:Curiosity Rover (Exaggerated Color) - HiRISE - 20120814.jpg, ''Curiosity's'' landing site (

Bradbury Landing Bradbury Landing is the August 6, 2012, landing site within Gale (crater), Gale crater on planet Mars of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover, ''Curiosity'' rover. On August 22, 2012, on what would have been his 92nd birthday, NAS ...

) viewed by

( MRO) (August 14, 2012). Image:PIA16204-MarsCuriosityRover-Rocknest-20120928.jpg, " Rocknest" sand patch in ''Aeolis Palus'' - between "

" and Glenelg (September 28, 2012). Image:673885main PIA15986-full full.jpg, ''Aeolis Palus'' with Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp") as viewed by the ''Curiosity'' rover (August 6, 2012). Image:PIA16134-Mars Curiosity Rover Wheels.jpg,

Wheels A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axl ...

on the ''Curiosity'' rover - " Mount Sharp" is in the background (

MAHLI Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) is one of seventeen cameras on the Curiosity rover, ''Curiosity'' rover on the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Overview The instrument is mounted on the rover's robotic arm. It is primarily used to acquire micr ...

, September 9, 2012). Image:PIA17085-MarsCuriosityRover-TraverseMap-Sol351-20130801.jpg, First-Year & First-Mil
Traverse Map
of the ''Curiosity'' rover on Mars (August 1, 2013)
3-D
.

References

External links

''Aeolis Palus'' and

:
Google Mars scrollable map
- centered on ''Aeolis Palus''.
''Aeolis Palus'' - ''Curiosity'' rover "StreetView" (Sol 2 - 08/08/2012) - NASA/JPL - 360° Panorama''Aeolis Palus'' - ''Curiosity'' rover Mission Summary - Video (02:37)''Aeolis Palus'' - Image/Soil Closeup

- Image/THEMIS VIS 18m/px Mosaic (Zoomable)
small

''Aeolis Palus''
/

- Image/HRSCview
Video (04:32) - Evidence: Water "Vigorously" Flowed On Mars - September, 2012
{{Portal bar, Solar System, Astronomy, Biology Aeolis quadrangle Mars Science Laboratory Plains on Mars Water on Mars Gale (crater) Articles containing video clips

Spacecraft exploration

Bradbury Landing

Images

See also

References

External links