Oxia Planum

Oxia Planum
Feature typePlains
LocationOxia Palus quadrangle
Coordinates18°16′30″N 335°22′05″E / 18.275°N 335.368°E / 18.275; 335.368

Oxia Planum is a 200 km-wide clay-bearing plain located on the planet of Mars inside the Oxia Palus quadrangle on the eastern border of Chryse Planitia. The plain lies between the Mawrth Vallis outflow channel to the north-east and the Ares Vallis outflow channel to the south-west. In 2019, the International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature officially approved Oxia Planum as a feature on the surface of Mars (near 18.275°N 335.368°E).[1][2]

Oxia Planum was one of eight potential landing sites for the European Space Agency and Roscosmos ExoMars mission. After a five-year-long selection process, it was officially selected to be the landing site for Rosalind Franklin (rover). It met the rover landing criteria based on its latitude, elevation,[3] surface slopes,[4] and its Noachian-aged terrains. It was chosen because of its relatively smooth topography and its abundance of hydrated minerals.[1][5][6]

  1. ^ a b Quantin-Nataf, Cathy; Carter, John; Mandon, Lucia; Thollot, Patrick; Balme, Matthew; Volat, Matthieu; Pan, Lu; Loizeau, Damien; Millot, Cédric; Breton, Sylvain; Dehouck, Erwin (January 5, 2021). "Oxia Planum: The Landing Site for the ExoMars "Rosalind Franklin" Rover Mission: Geological Context and Prelanding Interpretation". Astrobiology. 21 (3): 345–366. doi:10.1089/ast.2019.2191. ISSN 1531-1074. PMC 7987365. PMID 33400892.
  2. ^ "ESA mission updates". The Planetary Society. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  3. ^ Mandon, Lucia; Parkes Bowen, Adam; Quantin-Nataf, Cathy; Bridges, John C.; Carter, John; Pan, Lu; Beck, Pierre; Dehouck, Erwin; Volat, Matthieu; Thomas, Nicolas; Cremonese, Gabriele (March 1, 2021). "Morphological and Spectral Diversity of the Clay-Bearing Unit at the ExoMars Landing Site Oxia Planum". Astrobiology. 21 (4): 464–480. doi:10.1089/ast.2020.2292. ISSN 1531-1074. PMID 33646016.
  4. ^ Turchinskaya, O. I.; Agapkin, I. A.; Dmitroskiy, A. A.; Slyuta, E. N. (March 2021). "Analysis of the Terrain and Surface Slopes of the Potential Landing Area of the ExoMars Spacecraft Oxia Planum". Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2548): 2442. Bibcode:2021LPI....52.2442T.
  5. ^ Favaro, E. A.; Balme, M. R.; Davis, J. M.; Grindrod, P. M.; Fawdon, P.; Barrett, A. M.; Lewis, S. R. (2021). "The Aeolian Environment of the Landing Site for the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover in Oxia Planum, Mars" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 126 (4): 2020JE006723. doi:10.1029/2020JE006723. ISSN 2169-9100.
  6. ^ "Oxia Planum favoured for ExoMars surface mission". www.esa.int. Retrieved May 1, 2021.