MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

MSIP Presentation/Final Report Outline I. Introduction The purpose of the introduction section is to introduce your project and science question. The Introduction section should include the following information:

• What is your science question?

Where are candidate skylight cave openings found on Mars?

Is there a pattern where candidate skylight cave openings are found on Mars?

• Why is this question important and interesting? Candidate skylight cave openings are a rare feature found on Mars. In 2007, Dr. Glenn Cushing of Northern Arizona University, in an article in Journal of Cave and Karst Studies entitled “Candidate Cave Entrances on Mars,” began to investigate skylight cave openings on Mars. In the article he highlighted several of these openings on Mars. In 2010, one of our Evergreen Middle School MSIP teams found a previously unidentified skylight opening on Pavonis Mons. In an article dated November 20, 2012, entitled “Mars Cave-Exploration Mission Entices Scientists,” it was noted that NASA was interested in exploring one of these candidate skylight openings with a robotic mission. Their goal is to explore sites for possible human habitation and/or look for areas where there might be frozen water ice, or possible areas where bacteria, in the form of extremophiles , might be found. These candidate skylight openings are quite rare on Mars and capturing more images of these candidate skylight cave openings and cataloguing where these cave are on Mars will help scientists learn more about these features.

• List any hypotheses you may have had of what the answer(s) might be to your science question.

Most of the identified candidate skylight cave openings have been found around the Tharsis Volcanoes and are located on lava flows and on or near lava tubes.

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II. Background The purpose of the background section is to provide background information about the specific features you are studying. The Background section should include the following information:

• List definitions, specific knowledge, and hypotheses from other scientists about your geologic feature(s) on Mars as it relates to your science question.

Candidate skylight cave openings- places where a small part of the roof of a lava tube has collapsed

• Show what your features look like on Mars in selected images, sketches, or pictures.

Our main criteria for identifying a skylight cave is that they appear as small, black, round negative reliefs, with no rims, and ejecta blankets, or visible bottoms. Though this usually works, we sometimes have candidate skylight cave openings that don’t follow our criteria.

• Show how your features are thought to form (the geologic process) on Mars in a sketch or image.

Candidate skylight cave openings are thought to form when lava flowed over land and created a tube under the surface where the lava drained then cooled without filling in the tube. As wind and other natural processes erode the lava on the top of tube, it becomes weak and parts of the tube collapse, creating candidate skylight cave openings.

• If the features you are studying are found on Earth, how are they thought to be formed?

Candidate skylight cave openings have been found on Earth, and are thought to form the same way.

*Remember to cite (reference) any facts and images you include in your background information (where did that information come from) and include those sources in your bibliography.

III. Methods The purpose of the methods section is to allow other scientists to repeat your experiment and to show the reliability of your data. The methods section includes the step-by-step process detailing exactly what you did to collect your data.

MARS STUDENT IMAGING PROJECT ASU MARS EDUCATION PROGRAM

The Methods section can include the following: (Note: Some of this information may not apply to all projects):

• What specific spacecraft and camera did you use to collect data for your research?

We have used multiple cameras for our research, but mostly we have used the THEMIS camera on board the Odyssey spacecraft. We also used the CTX and the HiRISE on the Reconnaissance orbiter.

• What geographic region(s) and/or geologic features did you focus on during the process of

collecting your data?

We focused mostly on volcanic regions and features including the Tharsis Bulge area (Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons, Ascreas Mons, Alba Patera, Alba Mons, and Olympus Mons) and the area around Hecates Tholus, Elysium Mons, and Albor Tholus.

• What website(s) did you use to gather your data and how did you use it (them)? Be specific as to

how you used the web site.

First, we used the Mars Odyssey Mission THEMIS website (http://themis.asu.edu/). Also, we used the website Mars Image Explorer (http://viewer.mars.asu.edu/). Both were used to analyze THEMIS images. From the Mars Odyssey Mission THEMIS, we went to the research page where we located the “web-map of all THEMIS images” to specify the area we wanted to examine.

• List the specific type of information you planned to record from each image you observed, and

why? Volcano Image ID Number Longitude/Latitude Number of Candidate skylight cave openings Surrounding Features We wanted to compile this data to see if there were patterns as to where candidate skylight cave openings are found.

• What measurements did you obtain, how and why?

We attempted to measure the approximate amount of candidate skylight cave openings on Mars. We located 26, but we believe there are many more to find.

IV. Data The purpose of the data section is to list and display the data you collected and observations of that data. It does not include interpretations of those data. The Data section may include:

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• How many THEMIS images did you collect? We studied approximately 812 THEMIS Visible images along with almost twice as many corresponding Infrared images.

• Show good examples of the features you observed and/or measured from the data you collected.

THEMIS visible image V04374003

THEMIS visible image V26564002

• Display your data: o IN A TABLE

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o ON A MAP

V. Discussion The purpose of the discussion section is to re-show the data you collected and discuss and explain your interpretations of the observations you made as it relates to your science question. The Discussion section should include the following information:

• Re-show your data table(s) and discuss what the data means as it relates to your science question.

Our science questions were; where are candidate skylight cave openings found on Mars? And is there a pattern where candidate skylight cave openings are found on Mars? We looked at over 1,200 THEMIS Visible, Daytime Infrared and Nighttime Infrared images and using our revised criteria. As you can see in our data table, we found that these Candidate Skylight Cave Openings are found on or near volcanoes. Arsia Mons and Pavonis Mons had the most skylight openings and these are the oldest of the volcanoes we looked at. We also found that they are most commonly located in lava flows and collapsed lava tubes. Many of them also had impact craters nearby, but not all of the candidate cave openings had nearby impact craters. This is probably due to the fact that the lava flows covered over many of the impact craters. Collapse Pits, which may look like a skylight opening, were another common feature.

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• Discuss the potential errors with the data you collected o Could there be inaccuracies? If so, please explain.

Yes, we originally used criteria for confirming candidate skylight cave openings according to their infrared heat signature. In a daytime infrared image, we thought candidate skylight cave openings would carry a lighter color; in a nighttime infrared image, we assumed it would appear a darker shade than the surrounding area. Our criteria have been proved wrong many times, but there have also been occurrences in which we have found many candidate skylight cave openings that do match. So we came up with the hypothesis that candidate skylight cave openings that run under the surface are able to remain the same temperature the day through, therefore it stays the same color. V36870001 is a good example of this hypothesis, in both of these day and nighttime images, I08112012 I19412010, the cave remains one color: white.

o Could there be misinterpretations? If so, please explain.

Yes, because we cannot view Mars parallel to the surface, we cannot tell if there is a horizontally running cave under the ground. Also, we use infrared heat signatures to confirm and non confirm a cave, but the resolution of the infrared camera is 100 meters per pixel. We estimate candidate skylight cave openings on Mars to be approximately 100-300 meters wide, so they would appear about 1-3 pixels wide in an infrared image, causing it to be very hard to completely confirm a cave.

VI. Conclusions The purpose of the conclusion section is to summarize and conclude your science project. The Conclusion section should include the following information:

• Restate and answer your science question based on your interpretations from the discussion section.

When we looked at our data a very clear pattern emerged. All possible candidate skylight openings were found on lava flows. They were found near lava tubes and collapse pits. This may seem very simple and straightforward, but without research and data to back up that idea, it would only be a hypothesis needing to have supporting data. We believe our research-helped support Dr. Glenn Cushing’s hypothesis that these openings are found in and around volcanoes. We also realized why Dr. Cushing called these openings “Candidate skylight cave openings” using the current tools used to collect infrared data on Mars, there is no way to actually confirm a skylight opening has a horizontal cave. The 100-meter per pixel resolution of the THEMIS infrared images doesn’t have the ability to show a definite thermal signature that suggests they are candidate skylight cave openings like the ones on Earth. Until NASA can send robots to Mars that can explore the inside of these openings or send more accurate cameras that have a higher resolution for infrared images, we cannot clearly confirm an opening has a horizontal cave. Even the HiRISE Images with a resolution of about 30 centimeters per pixel can’t show that a skylight opening on Mars has

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a horizontal cave. In fact using Earth satellite images of the candidate skylight cave openings we visited on Earth didn’t reveal the horizontal candidate skylight cave openings we walked through on our field training.

• Restate and support or refute any hypotheses based on your interpretations from the discussion

section. In conclusion, our searches centered on finding where skylight cave openings are most commonly found on Mars. Our original hypothesis was that they were found by volcanoes on Mars like they are on Earth. Our original hypothesis changed very little, especially since we looked at over 1,000 THEMIS images. We found the openings on the flanks of the volcanoes and in the surrounding plains near the volcanoes.

• What future work could be done to expand your research project?

In the future to expand our project, I think it would be a good idea to look instead of just around volcanoes, but also look around the flat plains. We did not look around this area because of a lack of time and we thought we had a greater chance of finding a skylight cave if we looked around volcanoes.

• Who can you acknowledge for helping you complete your science project?

We would never have been able to even start this project if we didn’t have the help of our teacher and mentor, Dennis Mitchell. Also, Jessica Swans put a lot of extra effort and time into this project. Not to mention the loyal support of all 19 of our team members!

VI. References The purpose of the references section is to support all sources of information used to create your science report. It includes:

• A list of books, websites, people and equipment used to obtain your information. www.ewpenet.com, accessed 1/3/13, www.ewpenet.com/azores/candidate skylight cave openings.htm www.Lightsinthedark.com, accessed 1/3/13, www.lightsinthedark.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/mars-by-student-request/ marsmobile.jpl.nasa.gov, accessed 1/3/13, http:marsmobile.jpl.nasa.gov/programmissions/science/goal3/ Lakawalla, E.(2007)Cave Skylights on Mars. Windows Onto The Abyss. Retrieved from http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/marte/esp_ marte_40.htm

http:/kinohi.org/life-in-candidate skylight cave openings—lava-tubes, “Life in Candidate skylight cave openings & Laa Tubes, Kinohi Institute, INC., Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Jan 19, 2013

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Cushing, G.E. ; Titus, T.N. ; Wynn, J.J. ; Christenson, P.R.(2007)Possible Cave Skylights on Mars. Windows Onto The Abyss. Retrieved from http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/marte/esp_ marte_40.htm

Thompson, B.J. ;(2009)Featured Image for February 2009:Candidate skylight cave openings on Mars.IAG Planetary Geomorphology Working Group. Retrieved from http://www.psi.edu/pgwg/images/feb09image.html

Than,K.(2007)Possible New Mars Candidate skylight cave openings Targets in Search for Life. Possible New Mars Candidate skylight cave openings Targets in Search for Life. Retrieved from http://www.space.com/3632-mars-candidate skylight cave openings-target-search-life.html

Watt, K. (2002),Mars Student Imaging Project: Resource Manuel. Retrieved August 2005 from Arizona State University, Mars Student Imaging Project Web site: http://msip.asu.edu/curriculum.html.

Mars/Odyssey-THEMIS Homepage, Christensen, P.R., B.M. Jakosky, H.H.Kieffer, M.C. Malin, H.Y. McSween, Jr., K. Nealson, G.L. Mehall, S.H. Silverman, S. Ferry, M. Caplinger, and M. Ravine, The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) for the Mars 2001 Odyssey Mission, Space Science Reviews, 110, 85-130, 2004 Mars Image Explorer, Mars Space Flight Facility, ASU School of Earth & Space ExplorationChristensen, P.R., N.S. Gorelick, G.L. Mehall, and K.C. Murray, THEMIS Public Data Releases, Planetary Data System node, Arizona State University, <http://themis-data.asu.edu>