Mars’ surface radiation environment measured with the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity Rover

Donald M. Hassler; Cary Zeitlin; Robert F. Wimmer-Schweingruber; Bent Ehresmann; Scot Rafkin; Jennifer L. Eigenbrode; David E. Brinza; Gerald Weigle; Stephan Böttcher; Eckart Böhm; Soenke Burmeister; Jingnan Guo; Jan Köhler; Cesar Martin; Guenther Reitz; Francis A. Cucinotta; Myung-Hee Kim; David Grinspoon; Mark A. Bullock; Arik Posner; Javier Gõmez-Elvira; Ashwin Vasavada; John P. Grotzinger; MSL Science Team

doi:10.1126/science.1244797

Mars’ surface radiation environment measured with the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity Rover

Donald M. Hassler^*, Cary Zeitlin, Robert F. Wimmer-Schweingruber, Bent Ehresmann, Scot Rafkin, Jennifer L. Eigenbrode, David E. Brinza, Gerald Weigle, Stephan Böttcher, Eckart Böhm, Soenke Burmeister, Jingnan Guo, Jan Köhler, Cesar Martin, Guenther Reitz, Francis A. Cucinotta, Myung-Hee Kim, David Grinspoon, Mark A. Bullock, Arik PosnerJavier Gõmez-Elvira, Ashwin Vasavada, John P. Grotzinger, MSL Science Team

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geology and Geophysics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

400 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity rover began making detailed measurements of the cosmic ray and energetic particle radiation environment on the surface of Mars on 7 August 2012. We report and discuss measurements of the absorbed dose and dose equivalent from galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles on the martian surface for ~300 days of observations during the current solar maximum. These measurements provide insight into the radiation hazards associated with a human mission to the surface of Mars and provide an anchor point with which to model the subsurface radiation environment, with implications for microbial survival times of any possible extant or past life, as well as for the preservation of potential organic biosignatures of the ancient martian environment.

Original language	English
Article number	1244797
Number of pages	7
Journal	Science
Volume	343
Issue number	6169
Early online date	9 Dec 2013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1244797
Publication status	Published - 24 Jan 2014

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Hassler, D. M., Zeitlin, C., Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F., Ehresmann, B., Rafkin, S., Eigenbrode, J. L., Brinza, D. E., Weigle, G., Böttcher, S., Böhm, E., Burmeister, S., Guo, J., Köhler, J., Martin, C., Reitz, G., Cucinotta, F. A., Kim, M-H., Grinspoon, D., Bullock, M. A., ... MSL Science Team (2014). Mars’ surface radiation environment measured with the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity Rover. Science, 343(6169), [1244797]. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1244797

Hassler, DM, Zeitlin, C, Wimmer-Schweingruber, RF, Ehresmann, B, Rafkin, S, Eigenbrode, JL, Brinza, DE, Weigle, G, Böttcher, S, Böhm, E, Burmeister, S, Guo, J, Köhler, J, Martin, C, Reitz, G, Cucinotta, FA, Kim, M-H, Grinspoon, D, Bullock, MA, Posner, A, Gõmez-Elvira, J, Vasavada, A, Grotzinger, JP & MSL Science Team 2014, 'Mars’ surface radiation environment measured with the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity Rover', Science, vol. 343, no. 6169, 1244797. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1244797

@article{fc9278d31c0642bfb4ec4bce100a393c,

title = "Mars{\textquoteright} surface radiation environment measured with the Mars Science Laboratory{\textquoteright}s Curiosity Rover",

abstract = "The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on the Mars Science Laboratory{\textquoteright}s Curiosity rover began making detailed measurements of the cosmic ray and energetic particle radiation environment on the surface of Mars on 7 August 2012. We report and discuss measurements of the absorbed dose and dose equivalent from galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles on the martian surface for ~300 days of observations during the current solar maximum. These measurements provide insight into the radiation hazards associated with a human mission to the surface of Mars and provide an anchor point with which to model the subsurface radiation environment, with implications for microbial survival times of any possible extant or past life, as well as for the preservation of potential organic biosignatures of the ancient martian environment.",

author = "Hassler, {Donald M.} and Cary Zeitlin and Wimmer-Schweingruber, {Robert F.} and Bent Ehresmann and Scot Rafkin and Eigenbrode, {Jennifer L.} and Brinza, {David E.} and Gerald Weigle and Stephan B{\"o}ttcher and Eckart B{\"o}hm and Soenke Burmeister and Jingnan Guo and Jan K{\"o}hler and Cesar Martin and Guenther Reitz and Cucinotta, {Francis A.} and Myung-Hee Kim and David Grinspoon and Bullock, {Mark A.} and Arik Posner and Javier G{\~o}mez-Elvira and Ashwin Vasavada and Grotzinger, {John P.} and {MSL Science Team} and Javier Martin-Torres and {Zorzano Mier}, Maria-Paz",

note = "This paper is dedicated to Dr. Michael J. Wargo at NASA HQ, who passed away unexpectedly on 4 August 2013. Mike was Chief Exploration Scientist in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and an enthusiastic supporter of collaborative projects between Science and Exploration. He was a strong supporter of RAD and a valuable member of both the science and exploration communities. He was a good friend and a wonderful human being, and he will be greatly missed. RAD is supported by NASA under Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) subcontract 1273039 to Southwest Research Institute and in Germany by Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) and DLR{\textquoteright}s Space Administration grant numbers 50QM0501 and 50 QM1201 to the Christian Albrechts University, Kiel. Part of this research was carried out at JPL, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA. We extend sincere gratitude to J. Simmonds and J. Crisp at JPL; G. Allen, M. Meyer, C. Moore, V. Friedensen, and R. Williams at NASA HQ; and H. Witte at DLR in Germany for their unwavering support of RAD over the years. The authors also thank the reviewers for their careful and thoughtful comments and suggestions. The data used in this paper are archived in the NASA Planetary Data System{\textquoteright}s Planetary Plasma Interactions (PPI) node at the University of California, Los Angeles. The archival volume includes the full binary raw data files, detailed descriptions of the structures therein, and higher-level data products in human-readable form. The PPI node is hosted at http://ppi.pds.nasa.gov.",

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T1 - Mars’ surface radiation environment measured with the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity Rover

AU - Hassler, Donald M.

AU - Zeitlin, Cary

AU - Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert F.

AU - Ehresmann, Bent

AU - Rafkin, Scot

AU - Eigenbrode, Jennifer L.

AU - Brinza, David E.

AU - Weigle, Gerald

AU - Böttcher, Stephan

AU - Böhm, Eckart

AU - Burmeister, Soenke

AU - Guo, Jingnan

AU - Köhler, Jan

AU - Martin, Cesar

AU - Reitz, Guenther

AU - Cucinotta, Francis A.

AU - Kim, Myung-Hee

AU - Grinspoon, David

AU - Bullock, Mark A.

AU - Posner, Arik

AU - Gõmez-Elvira, Javier

AU - Vasavada, Ashwin

AU - Grotzinger, John P.

AU - MSL Science Team

AU - Martin-Torres, Javier

AU - Zorzano Mier, Maria-Paz

N1 - This paper is dedicated to Dr. Michael J. Wargo at NASA HQ, who passed away unexpectedly on 4 August 2013. Mike was Chief Exploration Scientist in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and an enthusiastic supporter of collaborative projects between Science and Exploration. He was a strong supporter of RAD and a valuable member of both the science and exploration communities. He was a good friend and a wonderful human being, and he will be greatly missed. RAD is supported by NASA under Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) subcontract 1273039 to Southwest Research Institute and in Germany by Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) and DLR’s Space Administration grant numbers 50QM0501 and 50 QM1201 to the Christian Albrechts University, Kiel. Part of this research was carried out at JPL, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA. We extend sincere gratitude to J. Simmonds and J. Crisp at JPL; G. Allen, M. Meyer, C. Moore, V. Friedensen, and R. Williams at NASA HQ; and H. Witte at DLR in Germany for their unwavering support of RAD over the years. The authors also thank the reviewers for their careful and thoughtful comments and suggestions. The data used in this paper are archived in the NASA Planetary Data System’s Planetary Plasma Interactions (PPI) node at the University of California, Los Angeles. The archival volume includes the full binary raw data files, detailed descriptions of the structures therein, and higher-level data products in human-readable form. The PPI node is hosted at http://ppi.pds.nasa.gov.

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N2 - The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity rover began making detailed measurements of the cosmic ray and energetic particle radiation environment on the surface of Mars on 7 August 2012. We report and discuss measurements of the absorbed dose and dose equivalent from galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles on the martian surface for ~300 days of observations during the current solar maximum. These measurements provide insight into the radiation hazards associated with a human mission to the surface of Mars and provide an anchor point with which to model the subsurface radiation environment, with implications for microbial survival times of any possible extant or past life, as well as for the preservation of potential organic biosignatures of the ancient martian environment.

AB - The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity rover began making detailed measurements of the cosmic ray and energetic particle radiation environment on the surface of Mars on 7 August 2012. We report and discuss measurements of the absorbed dose and dose equivalent from galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles on the martian surface for ~300 days of observations during the current solar maximum. These measurements provide insight into the radiation hazards associated with a human mission to the surface of Mars and provide an anchor point with which to model the subsurface radiation environment, with implications for microbial survival times of any possible extant or past life, as well as for the preservation of potential organic biosignatures of the ancient martian environment.

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JO - Science

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Mars’ surface radiation environment measured with the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity Rover

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