Initial CRISM Observations of the Candidate 2007 Phoenix Landing Sites

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) will acquire multispectral and targeted hyperspectral visible and near infrared data of the candidate Phoenix landing sites during the first few months of primary mission operations (beginning early November). Three 150 x 75 km candidate Phoenix landing sites are located in the high northern plains of Mars within a region from 65-72° N and 120-140° E. Geomorphologic characterization of this region indicates a relatively homogeneous terrain primarily composed of multiple kilometer-scale polygonal plains with superposed degraded craters. At decameter spatial scales, the area is ubiquitously covered by patterned ground in the form of basketball terrain, stripes, and small polygons. Spectral variation of these different types of landforms and materials that are detected by CRISM at 100- or 200-meter scales (multispectral) or ~20-meter scales (targeted hyperspectral) will be analyzed and initial results presented. Implications for Phoenix landing site selection and in situ measurements will also be discussed. CRISM observations along with other MRO data will be critical to the selection of the final landing site prior to launch in August of 2007.